The Spirits: Resurrection
by AlcatrazOutpatient
Summary: Spin-off of The Others series. The day Tikal fell, the mirror image of God was shattering into pieces. Each shard has his own reflection, his own story of his rise and fall - his life and his death.
1. Thief King Bakura: First Phase

**The Spirits: Resurrection**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo and 4Kids Entertainment. The following historical account is ninety percent fact and ten percent unavoidable estimation.

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><p><strong>Thief King Bakura: First Phase<strong>

"_He that boasts of his own knowledge, proclaims his ignorance."  
>- Inuit Proverb<em>

Why?

It was my favourite question and the first word that came from my mouth as an infant squabbling in his mother's arms. Why? Why was the sky blue and then black? Why was the earth flat? Why did Sedna the Old Woman live beneath the sea with the great gods? Why? Why? Why?

I wanted to know everything – absolutely everything. If I didn't, if I wasn't learning, then there was no point. I had to know, had to see the world because there had to be more than just this snow covered land. It had to be bigger because there had to be more. More to learn. More to experience. More to do and be and live.

I was but a child when I noticed the difference between the others and myself in my tribe. The most obvious difference was my hair. It was white, the same colour as the fur of the bears. The other children mocked me, saying that my mother must have lain with a polar bear for my hair to become that colour. I didn't understand why they would think so – lying next to a woman does not get her with child. My brother and I have lain next to their mother and she didn't get pregnant.

But still they cry, "Bear cub, bear cub."

The children call me bear cub, but I preferred it to what they adults call me: thief.

I didn't think it was fair to call me that. It was only one time that I stole – taking more meat from the hunt than was allowed. My brother was sick and hungry. He needed food, more than any of the others did. Why should I not steal when it was for the betterment of someone else? It wasn't like I was going to eat it myself. Why? Why do people act the way they do?

I wanted to know – no, I needed to know. I needed to know what was going on, how the world worked the way it did. Because if I didn't, I was scared that _it_ will eat me whole.

_It_ is something inside of me. I've always had _it_, but I didn't think that other people did. _It_ was nothing – absolutely nothing. _It_ was empty space inside of me and _it_ scared me because he didn't want to feel empty, feel as if I wasn't complete.

I was broken and I didn't know why. That bothered me a lot.

But there was something else in me too. It was a flame that was as red as blood and it sat in the middle of the igloo in my mind without melting the walls. It was inviting and warm and nice and I liked this fire a lot. With it, I discovered, I could find the answers to so many other things.

If I used the flame enough, I could tell what things were made of. I could tell that the snow and the ice was merely water – solid water that changed its form because of the temperature. I knew why the coloured lights shine in the sky at night. They weren't the spirits of my ancestors or the ghosts of the dead like the chief told me (I've tried whistling at them a few times and my head is still on my shoulders). Instead the lights are caused by tiny bits of the world, colliding with each other so far up in the sky.

I knew so much more than they do. I was smarter than them. Smarter than any of them, but they didn't recognize it. They didn't recognize me at all, not as anything more than a bear cub or a thief or a thieving bear cub and it wasn't fair! I could lead this tribe into greatness, but they didn't see that at all.

Why?

This tribe was stagnant and boring. And I wanted to get away from it all.

* * *

><p>I had recently entered my twelfth year when my life changed forever. My father took me hunting for the first time.<p>

It was an incredibly important turning point in my life. Here, finally, was proof that someone had acknowledge my importance to the tribe. If I could prove that I could hunt on my own, it meant that I could get married, start a family (somehow. I wasn't quite sure on the specifics behind having children just yet), and maybe, one day, challenge the chief for his position.

I gripped the spear that I'd painstakingly made out of a walrus tusk and a rare piece of wood that I'd found. It had taken me forever to make it, but it would be worth it today. If I could complete this hunt, I would be recognized as a man.

My older brother came up from behind me, clamping his hand on my shoulder, grinning and eyes creasing at the corners, "Ready Bakura?"

"Ipiktok, I didn't know that you were coming," I frowned. My brother was supposed to be helping father's widowed sister to move into our home. The man had taken ill over the winter and died, leaving my aunt without anyone to support her. She had no sons of her own to help her, so we'd invited her to stay with our family.

"I…uh, well, Anyu's fine on her own. Besides, I couldn't miss out on your first hunt, right? Finally becoming a man?"

"You're skiving out on your duties again, aren't you?" I rolled my eyes.

"Are you accusing me of lying?" Ipiktok glared, looking down at me.

"You're not making eye contact and you always scratch your nose when you lie," I pointed out. "On top of that, you're getting defensive. Clear signs that you're lying."

He swatted playfully at my head, "Brat. See if I save you again when you whistle at the ancestors."

"I keep telling you, they're not…I don't even know why I try sometimes," I sighed, moving over to where father was standing. He was a big man with wind beaten skin and a thick, dark beard. Ipitok took after him almost exactly. There was no question about my brother's parents – only mine.

I looked down at where the sleeve of my coat rode up and didn't meet my mittens. My skin was as pale as snow, just like my hair. The only bit of colour on me was in my eyes. They were the same bloody, red colour as the flame that I could use to tell how things worked.

Father glanced down at me for a moment before returning to gazing steadily at the chief. Chief Ignirtoq had grown up with father when they were boys and had been the one to first introduce father to mother. They'd been friends for a very long time, I heard people whispering. They'd only stopped being friends when I was born.

I wondered why.

All the men from the village where here, except the aging and the elderly ones that were too sick to move, let alone hunt. Some had stone knifes and others carried harpoons. One of the older boys who had called me bear cub for years, grinned viciously when he was I was looking, shaking his fist menacingly in my direction. I jumped backwards and nearly stepped on Ipitok's foot.

"Don't let them intimidate you," he whispered. "They don't mean anything. This is your day."

"Yeah. I know. I know," I tried to calm the nerves within me. I had to be focused for this or I would fail.

If only I'd known how things would go later on.

* * *

><p>It wasn't uncommon to find myself walking over ice in these lands. As we traveled across the tundra, I heard the familiar cracking of the frozen water beneath my feet. I sent the fire within me to determine the thickness and deemed that the parts that we were walking on would be safe enough to hold such a large group.<p>

"We stop here," the chief called back to the rest of the men. "Spread out and look for breathing holes."

Breathing holes were spots where sea animals would come to the surface take a breath. Sometimes, hunters would wait for hours on end for something to come up for air, sitting still and silent as to not scare the animals away. Normally, they brought home seals from their hunt during the winter months. The women would then get to work skinning the beasts and preserving their meat and hides. It was a practiced pattern that had been perfected throughout the generations that had passed by.

I sat with my brother, holding my spear tightly in my lap. I stared at the hole, almost willing a seal to pop up out so that I could prove that I could be just as strong as any of the other men in the tribe. I'd be better than the chief – I just knew it.

"Well, look at what we've got here," the hood of my parka was pulled off of my head. Then a hand pulled and yanked at my hair, dragging me backwards. "Hello there, bear cub."

"Leave him alone, Krermertok," Ipiktok snarled, standing up in my defense. My eyes stung and my vision blurred as the hand twisting in my hair, pulling on it hard.

Krermertok was one my many tormentors, though he stood out in my childhood as the most brutal. A few years before I discovered the fire inside me, he'd held my head under the sea until I had almost passed out. I honestly thought that he was going to kill me. I tried to tell father and the chief, but they didn't believe me. No one ever believed me. Why didn't they when I was telling the truth?

"Stop your whimpering, cub," he sneered at me, tugging at my hair even more. Ipitok stood, leaping over the air hole in a single bound and pushed him. Krermertok didn't let go and dragged me backwards with him.

"I said, let him go, Krermertok," my brother growled one more time. I could see his hand itching to grab the knife attached to his belt. I couldn't let that happen. Ipitok could not get involved.

I closed my eyes and let my mind whirl into action.

Krermertok was three hand's widths taller than me and currently in a more dominant position, holding me down on my knees. He had friends too, standing just off to the side and ready to spring into action at a moments notice. The ice beneath my feet was strong, sturdy enough to hold up in a fight. I calculated the distance between myself and where my spear lay on the ground. I wouldn't be able to reach it from here.

My eyes opened and I withdrew the flame from its search of the area – but wait, what was that?

A crack. I felt a crack in the ice. And something big was moving underneath.

"Ipiktok, watch out!" I screamed, but it was too late. The whale, larger than anything I'd ever seen or heard of before (how did it get that big?), pushed its body against the ice as it took a breath from the air hole we'd been watching until a few minutes ago. The ice cracked and split beneath our feet. Krermertok lost his balance and slipped, letting go of my hair.

"W-what's happening? What did you do, bear cub?"

The boy scrambled to his feet, shoving me towards and into my brother. The already weakened ice snapped beneath us. Ipitok pushed me away. I slid on the snow-covered ice away from him. I turned just in time to see him disappear into the ocean.

"No!" I screamed, scrambling towards the last place I'd seen my brother. "No! No! NO!"

The ice shook with each of my cries, but I didn't care. I had to find him. I had to – he couldn't die! He just couldn't die! He was my brother. He couldn't die!

The men around me were shouting, forgetting about the hunt and searching for Ipitok beneath the ice. Father shouted something, pointed to something beneath him. He went down on all fours and started to claw at the ice.

"My son! Someone – someone break the ice!"

I ran over to where he was standing, seeing Ipiktok's blurred face through the ice. He'd grabbed onto something, holding himself against the current. His other hand was attempting to smash his way to freedom before his air ran out.

I had to help him, had to save his life. Tears ran down my face as I tried to force my way through with my spear. The sharped tusk that was its blade chipped as I finally cracked the ice, but it didn't go all the way through. The spear stuck and refused to budge, no matter how much of my weight I tried to throw behind it. No! I refused to give up! No!

I gripped the pole tightly, remembering what I knew about ice. It was solid water, transformed by the low temperatures. And in the summer months, it disappeared because it got warmer. So to get rid of the ice, I just had to heat it up.

Heat was something simple to create with fire, but I didn't have any right now. Just the flame inside of me, the flame that gave me the power to know and answer the question why. I knew that the difference between water and ice was that the tiny bits of existence moved faster in the liquid form. What if…what if I made the ice melt?

I drew upon the flame and, through my spear, shoved it into the ice – into the tiny parts of the world. I forced them to move faster then they were, made them go faster – faster – faster, please, my brother's life depends on it.

My father stepped back, eyes wide and frightened, but I didn't care. I didn't have time to care. My spear sunk deeper and deeper into the ice as it melted, but I didn't stop because I had to save Ipiktok. I had to. I had to.

My brother gave one final shove and his hand burst through the ice. I grabbed it, yanking him through and towards the surface. He took his first breath of fresh air; gasping and sputtering, water spewing from his mouth as he exhaled. His whole body shook, but I kept pulling him away from the new hole in the ice and onto an area that I could sense was much safer.

Ipiktok's lips were blue, his face pale. I stared up at my father, "He needs help. Please!"

The man stared at me like he'd never seen me before. He was scared of what I did. I didn't understand why. Ipitok was as much his son as I was. Why would he fear me? Didn't he have a flame too? Couldn't he see what I'd done was simply use it?

Why? Why was he looking at me like that? Why wasn't he helping Ipitok? Why?

What was going on?

* * *

><p>I'd finally learned to control it. It was almost a full year after I'd pulled my brother from the cold waters of the ocean, but I'd done it. I stared up into the sky, staring at the lights that most thought were our ancestors, and controlled them.<p>

"I told you. They aren't ghosts," I pointed upwards, sending the flame into the sky, and made the bits of existence bend to my will. "See, look. I'll make them red."

And red they were. A simple shift in the connections between the bits and the lights were the colour I wanted them to be.

"You need to stop this, Bakura. You – you shouldn't be doing this; it's not right! You can't just control the ancestors like this," Ipiktok didn't dare glance up, afraid of what he'd see. Why was he afraid? There was no one that would hurt him. There were no ancestors or ghosts that would retaliate when you whistled at them.

"That's not the only thing I can do. Watch," and with that said, I pushed my hands out in front of me. I recalled the knowledge that I'd recently obtained about the air and how it moved, shifting the warmer air away and letting the cold air rush in. This caused the snow to move on the ground, revealing the ground that was underneath it. "There's more too. I can –"

"Stop it!" He shouted angrily. "Stop – just stop. Bakura, this is wrong. You shouldn't be able to…no one should be able to do this. You can't just control the world, that's not how it works."

"Why shouldn't it? It's how I am, so why is it wrong?" I frowned, not understanding why he felt so uncomfortable. I didn't feel wrong – if anything, I felt better. The more I used the flame, the more I could ignore _it_.

But ignoring _it_ didn't make it go away. Ignoring _it_ just made _it_ not as noticeable.

Ipiktok's face tightened, his jaw clenched and his back uncomfortably ridged, "It just is."

And with that my brother walked away, not looking back at me once. He was the first in a long line of people to do that. The sight of his back was the most painful of them all.

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><p>It was almost two years before I found <em>her<em>.

"You're going to get in trouble," Tupit scowled, trudging after me. I tried to move faster, tried to get away from him, but he wouldn't leave me alone. Ever since he'd seen me use the fire again, the boy would never leave me alone. I understood why: intrigue was the primary influence on his behaviour. I just felt…uncomfortable with him constantly wanted to follow me around.

I was better off being on my own, I'd discovered. Interaction with other people would disrupt me and my thinking. Besides, even when I wanted to talk to someone, I just seemed to fumble and stammer. Ipiktok's betray had left me almost unable to talk with people.

"Really, you're going to get in a lot of trouble. Dad's not going to be happy that you ran off again during a hunt…hey, are you even listening to me? Why don't you ever say anything? I know you're not mute," he grumbled, nearly tripping over his own feet to keep up with my quick pace. I glanced back, tried to tell him to leave me alone, but I couldn't. I was too scared that if I did, he'd run, just like all the others.

Tupit was Chief Ignirtoq's son. He was named after his paternal grandfather, as was tradition for the children who cried often in their infancy. According to those who believed in that spiritual nonsense, it meant that Ignirtoq's father's spirit was inhabiting the body of his son and wanted to be called by his true name. And so Tupit was named correctly – or so his parents thought. Personally, I didn't understand it all.

There's never been a Bakura before. The name I carried sounded like nothing like anything I'd ever heard before. Some took it as proof that my mother had lain with a bear and that I was named after my true father. I clenched my hands, fingers curling tightly around my spear.

I kept moving, walking through the snow and heating the interior of my parka to keep me warm as I moved with my flame. Something shifted in the distance, before it disappeared into the snow.

I frowned, "Did you…see that?"

"Hey! You spoke! And what? See what?" Tupit stared at the lands directly ahead of us.

And then something happened. Something amazing. Something terrifying. Something that I couldn't explain.

I heard a voice in the back of my head, shouting and screaming and it was more than a single voice – so many people all at once yelling, **"Go!"**

For a single moment, I honestly believed that the ancestors had finally come for my head after all the years I'd spent controlling them and whistling at them in the dead of night. Instead, by feet seemed to move on their own towards where I'd seen the figure fall over.

I didn't walk there, though. No. Instead, I brought out in a sprint, needing to get towards that thing as fast as physically possible. I felt the fire race into my legs and I sent it out into the ground before me to melt the snow, clearing a path for me as I ran full tilt towards it and –

It was a body. A person. An actual person from outside my tribe. And…it was a woman.

She was like no woman I'd ever seen before. Instead of being dressed in the furs and parkas of the winter months, she wore the animal skins that were more appropriate for that of the summers. Her feet were bare and bright red from the cold, her skin an earthy tone that was a shade darker than those of my tribe. And then there was her hair.

It was long, almost ridiculously so, and loose, pooling over her back and touching the backs of her knees. It was wind blown and tangled, like she'd been running.

I rolled her over onto her back. My heart skipped in my chest, making my hands shake. Whoever this woman was…she was beautiful.

Her face showed that she was older than I, old enough to be married but for some reason I didn't think that she was. I didn't know what I based that inference on, it just popped into my head.

And then _it_ decided to make _itself_ know. Except, this time, _it_ was different. _It_ made me reach out and stroke her face, smiling softly.

"Hello," I whispered. "Hello. Who are you? Why are you here? Hello."

Tupit finally caught up to me, "How did you move that fast – who's that?"

"I don't…I don't know," I couldn't take my eyes off of her. _It_ wouldn't let me. For some reason, she was important to _it_. And that meant something.

"Is she dead?" He asked, reaching forwards to touch her. The flame in me jumped and I clutched her to me, unwilling to let him near her. Tupit pulled his hand back, startled, "Is something wrong?"

I shook my head, gathering the woman up in my arms and stood. Turning around, I began my trek back to the tribe. She was so small, light, and cold. Her skin was dull and colourless – sickly, even. Her breath was barely showing in the cold air. But for some reason I didn't worry.

She'd live. And then I'd find out why she was so important to _it_.

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><p>The Chief wasn't happy. Neither was father or mother or Ipitok. No one was really happy about the woman – no one except me. She was another mouth to feed, another body to clothe. Our tribe was stretched thin as it was.<p>

Krermertok had been the first to see me after I'd come out of the meeting with the woman still in my arms. He'd thought her to be a corpse that I'd brought back, in some disturbed version of an attempt to care like an actual human being. He'd never come back to torment me after I'd saved my brother, but he'd been quick to throw a hurtful word or phrase at me when my back was turned.

This was the first time in years that he'd said something to my face. It stung.

I pulled a blanket of furs farther up her body. It had been two days since I'd found her in the snow. During those days, I'd used the flame to create a new igloo (my parent's refused to house the woman in their own) and found – stole, and the words 'thief, thief, thief' rang in my mind but I didn't care because this was the right thing to do – some clothing for her to wear that would keep her warm.

I'd changed her into them, her old clothing so worn that it practically fell off of her. It had been embarrassing at first, but I'd kept my gaze from straying anywhere that might offend her in the future. Then I'd combed her hair, removing all the knots and the bits of dirt that had wandered into it. Now I just had to wait for her to wake up.

"You're taking care of a dead body, you know that right?" I jumped at the voice. It was one that, in the last two years, I'd only heard from a distance. I tried to say something, but only caused my jaw to move uselessly as Ipiktok frowned behind me.

"She's not going to wake up. She's dead. And you're crazy. You're crazy, bringing a body back and treating it like it's alive. The girl is dead!" He shouted.

"She's alive," I half mumbled, half whispered. "I swear it."

And then the impossible happens. The woman's eyes snap open and her whole body jerks as she sits up. I let out a started yelp in tandem with my brother as her neck cranked around to face us.

A _look_ made its way onto her face when she looked at me. It was a _look_ because I had no idea what it was. No one had ever looked at me like she was now, tears flowing from her eyes as a smile graced her features and –

"Bakura."

My name is the first thing I heard come from her lips and I couldn't move because I simply couldn't understand what was happening. Nothing seemed to make sense. How did she know my name? Why was she giving me that _look_? Why was she moving forwards? What was she doing - ?

The woman pressed her lips to mine and my mind went blank. Completely and utterly blank. For a full moment of time, absolutely nothing passed through my thoughts. And then I realized just what she was doing.

The woman was attempting to eat me.

Her mouth was making the same motions used to bite and chew food, so that had to be the only possible explanation for this. So I did the only possible thing I could in such a situation like this.

I screamed, throwing myself from her and scrambling on all fours in my attempt to get as far away from the crazy woman who wanted to bite my mouth off.

I didn't return to the igloo until the end of the day and even then I stayed just outside of its opening. Through the blocks of snow and ice, I could hear her sobs. They lasted until the moon was high in the sky and the earth a deathly quiet.

_"Yesterday is ashes; tomorrow wood. Only today does the fire burn brightly."  
>- Inuit Proverb<em>

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><p><strong>Hello all!<strong>

**I'd like to thank ilovemanicures for her review for The Abnormal: Amane's Tale. May you continue to be awesome, my dear lady!**

**So this is the first chapter of Resurrection and the first phase of Thief King. I'm not going to be overly original on the chapter titles this time around as all of the spirits will have their tales in this story. The 'phase' part will refer to a specific section in their lives.**

**As for the other characters besides Bakura (which ever version of him I may be writing about) and Atem, they are all going to be OCs. Long story short, there are not a lot of character to work with in Yugioh canon and none of them have a name that would be compatible with someone living in each specific time zone. I'm not going to give an Inuit the name Jesse Anderson, especially when they're living in 1000 CE, as my inner and outer history nerd would have a fit. So to compensate, I'm going to give you the meanings of each of the names I chose. They'll be listed in a section after this author's note.**

**Also, if I may put in a request for you guys to do. In The Abnormal, a reviewer came up with a name for the pairing of AmanexMagic, calling it AbnormalGodshipping. I was wondering if you guys could help me come up with a name for the pairings in this story. Let's start off with Thief King and Atem.**

**One more thing: I've been thinking lately about the wiki sites that can be found on the internet. For those of you who don't know, wiki's are like wikipedia, but for a more specific topic. There's a bacon wiki, a Doctor Who wiki, a Star Wars wiki, a Yu-gi-oh wiki, and loads of others. Just google them and you'll find loads of examples.**

**So my question is: would you guys get some use out of a wiki for The Others? I'm going to create a pole for you to cast your vote and at the end of the month, I'm going to see what you guys think. I'm not going to promise one, even if the pole says that 'yes' to it (as I have no idea how easy or difficult it will be to maintain one, let alone if it will cost anything to set it up), but I will definitely try if that is the answer. So cast your vote, if only for the reason that I love to hear from you guys and like to hear your feedback.**

**If you have any questions about some of the Inuit urban myths and legends that were mentioned in this chapter, don't hesitate to ask. I'll get back to you as soon as possible.**

**Until next time, my friends,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**

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><p><strong>Etymoloy:<strong>

**Ipiktok:** a unisex Inuit name meaning "keen" and "sharp". Those with this name have the potential to become leaders and desire responsibility.

**Anyu:** a unisex Inuit name meaning "snow". Those with this name have the potential to become specialists and desire stability.

**Ignirtoq:** a male Inuit name meaning "god of light and truth". Those with this name have the potential to become leaders and desire responsibility.

**Krermertok:** a unisex Inuit name meaning "black". Those with this name have the potential to be helpers and desire solitude.

**Tupit:** a unisex Inuit name meaning "tattoo lines on face." Those with this name have the potential to be marketers and desire expression.


	2. Thief King Bakura: Second Phase

**The Spirits: Resurrection**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo and 4Kids Entertainment. The following historical account is ninety percent fact and ten percent unavoidable estimation.

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><p><strong>Thief King Bakura: Second Phase<strong>

_"Seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy - myself."  
>- Inuit proverb<em>

There were nights when I dreamt. They were odd dreams in comparison to the ones that I'd heard of when I listened in on my brother speaking to my mother about them. I didn't have dreams where dead lattices spoke to me or where those that I knew appeared oddly, wearing strange clothing or acting out of character. I didn't dream of the impossible or the improbable.

I didn't know how I knew this, but I knew that I dreamt of the truth.

I was standing in a land that I didn't know, not personally anyways. I knew, somehow, that it was named Caucasia, though how I knew that information was beyond me. The earth was covered in a plant that I'd only seen in sparse patches in the summer. Grass. And the land bent and pointed upwards towards the sky, scraping the clouds.

I didn't breathe. I didn't need to. I knew I wasn't really here. I was just an observer. Nothing more, nothing else.

There was an animal being chased across the land by a small group of people. The animal was strange, unlike anything I'd seen before. The closest thing I could compare it to was a bear, but it's legs were too thin to be a bear. Golden hair surrounded it's head and neck, like the hood of a parka. I felt someone whisper in my ears, with the voice of a thousand people, telling me what it was.

**"A lion. A European lion. Panthera leo europaea. This one is the last in existence. When he is gone, there will never be another again."**

I frowned, tilting my head to the side. I wanted as the lion was chased down and killed. The hunters tied up it's body and began to hall it back to where ever they'd come from.

I blinked. Why?

Why? Why had I been shown this? What was the purpose of this vision? There had always been a purpose before. But now, there seemed to be nothing in my life to relate this to. So why?

Something in the future, maybe? I didn't know, but I wanted to find out.

"Why did they kill him?" I asked the voice. "For meat? For bones?"

**"Yes, but for something else as well. They believed this lion to be an animal fit for a king."**

* * *

><p>My stomach filled with dread when my father told me the inevitable.<p>

"You brought her here, therefore she is your responsibility - no one else's," he growled, not even looking at me. I picked at the sleeve of my coat.

"She bites, father. She's crazy," I mumbled.

"Then it is your responsibility to get rid of her," he snapped, before stomping out of the igloo. I sighed, deflated. My brother, Ipiktok, smirked.

"Serves you right, bringing her here."

"Just...just leave me alone," I glanced downwards, staring at my feet. He just scoffed and ducked outside, following after father. Was this why I'd had that dream? Was I the lion, alone because my family was no longer with me? I sighed. I was being ridiculous. I had bigger things to worry about now, namely an insane woman who liked to eat other people.

I made my way over to the main fire, gathering up my midday meal. I also took a portion for the woman, so that maybe she would eat that instead of me. I shivered, somewhat doubting that hope.

I stood outside the door to the igloo I'd made for her for a very long time before I willed up the courage to go inside. I announced my presence first, to make sure she knew I was here.

"I - I'm coming in," I stammered, expecting silence in response. I was completely taken by surprise when she answered me back.

"Come in," the woman's voice was dry, lifeless. My hands clenched around the bowl containing her meal. I lowered my hand as I passed through the entrance.

The woman sat in the corner, knees curled up to her chest, arms wrapped around her torso. Her eyes, a dark shade of red that I'd never seen before, stared blankly at the wall across from her. Her toes (she'd kicked off her shoes) curled in the furs beneath her. Her long hair covered her shoulders like a cloak.

"I brought you some food," I shifted from side to side. She glanced up, looking at me for the first time, and her entire body became rigid. My eyes widened and I backed up, expecting her to pounce again.

But she didn't. The woman's fingers clenched around her legs, until her knuckles were stark write. After refusing to move for several tense seconds, her mouth opened, "What is it?"

"Uh...seal meat," I answered, shoving the bowl in her direction. "I've already eaten, so I'll just...leave now..."

The woman shakily got to her feet, her eyes never leaving mine. She stumbled her way towards me. I couldn't breathe. When she was directly in front of me, she stopped and reached towards the bowl. Her hands closed over mine, thick calluses brushing over my skin.

"Do you know who I am?" She whispered.

My head jerked in an effort to shake it, "No."

The woman closed her eyes, squeezing them shut almost painfully, "Nothing? Nothing at all? Do you remember anything from before this place?"

Before this place? What was she talking about?

"I've never left this place before in my life," I told her as a small inkling of curiosity worked it's way into my mind.

"You don't remember?" She opened her eyes, tears threatening to fall. Her long hair hung in front of her eyes. "No, of course you won't. You're not him, after all."

For some reason, I expected those words of her to have been spat at me in anger. Instead, they were bland and still, like she was trying to convince herself of the truth.

"I'm not who?" I asked.

The woman glance dup at me again, maroon pools gazing through the shawl of her hair. She sighed, "Forget it. I was speaking nonsense."

She pulled away, taking the bowl with her. Her back turned to me, she walked back to where she had previously been sitting. Her legs crossed beneath her on the furs, she picked at the seal meat with her fingers before bringing it to her mouth.

"I'm supposed to take care of you," I blurted out, not really thinking about what I was doing. The woman's hand stilled in it's journey before quickly resuming it's course.

"Oh," was her only response.

"Do you have a name?" I asked, not wanting to refer to her as 'she' or 'the woman' or 'the bitey-mad lady' anymore in my mind.

"Yes," she answered, being cryptic.

"Could you tell me what it is?"

"I could," something glimmered in her eyes, looking almost like amusement before it died a horrible reality filled death.

"Will you?" I pressured her again, using the red flame to see if it would help me in my quest for an answer. It didn't. In fact, it was almost like it had been thrown off of her the moment it made contact. How...?

The woman looked up from her meal, fixing me with a look that I didn't understand how to take, "Maybe one day. Please leave me now."

I stomped a foot on the ground in frustration before turning on my heal and leaving. This had never happened before to me. Knowledge and information had always been readily supplied to me, even if it wasn't believed by those who I had told it to. But this time, it had been denied from me. Why? Why hadn't she told me her name? I had a right to know who I would be taking care of for the rest of my life. So why had she denied me that vital information. It wasn't fair!

Why couldn't life just be fair for once?

* * *

><p>"Am I a prisoner here?" The woman asked, three days after she had woken up. I stood on the other side of the igloo, observing her as she walked around. Occasionally, she would ask questions. Sometimes, she'd use my favorite word: why. I liked it when she used that word. It made me realize that she too had the thirst for knowledge - true knowledge and not this 'the sky is filled with the spirits of the ancestors' silliness. The woman wanted to know things.<p>

Did she have a fire, too? I wanted to ask, but it didn't feel right.

"No, you're not a prisoner," I answered.

"So I am free to walk about? To leave this..." she frowned, then gestured to the walls around her.

"The igloo? Yes, you can leave."

"Ig...loo? What an odd word," she mumbled, pressing her hand to the ice. She slid it along, feeling each groove and bump. "Fascinating..."

"What do you mean?"

"This is one piece of ice and snow. It's not comprised of bricks or blocks. It's solid, all the way from one end to the other," she whispered. "Amazing. I've never seen such a thing before, in any building. You're people much be geniuses to be able to construct something like this."

I bit back a smile. Genius! She'd called me a genius. I'd built this place, with the fire within me. The others were just constructs of ice blocks, but the woman thought I was a genius for having built something that was whole.

"Yeah, I guess...maybe," I felt the back of my neck warm. "I can show you around, if you want."

The woman's hand stopped in it's path. She didn't look back, just fell into an uncomfortable silence. Then it dropped to her side, "Maybe later."

That seemed to always be her que. 'Maybe later' and then she would stop talking. She'd curl up on her furs and frame sleep until I got up and left.

But this time, she didn't lie down. She sat, legs crossed, and tugged at a stand of her hair. It was so outrageously long, running down her back and around her body like an ocean current. It was strange hair, too. The bits in front were yellow like the sun, the middle black as night, and the tips red like sunrise or set.

The woman's eyes flickered to me for a second before she went back to gazing at her lap. Not a word was exchanged between us in those moments, until I broke the silence.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

She sucked in her lips, wetting them, before answering, "No."

"Where then?"

"The south. Very far south."

"How far?"

"Very. I can't remember how far."

"What's it like in the south?" I took a risk, hoping that she wouldn't bite me if I got too close. I stepped forwards, slowly making my way towards her. The woman tensed when I reached the half way point between us. I stopped my movements and didn't continue them, even when she relaxed.

"It's warm all year round," she answered simply. "And the nights aren't so long in the winter. They stay the same."

"Really?" I was intrigued. I wanted more answers. I needed more knowledge, "What else?"

"Different animals to hunt. Sometimes, when the earth is healthy enough, you can farm -"

"Farm?" This word was new to me.

"Farm. You plant fruit and vegetable seeds in the earth to grow, instead of gathering them. You can get more that way," she explained, not looking up.

"You can do that?" It hardly seemed possible, "How?"

"You wouldn't be able to do it here. The ground is always frozen," she shook her head.

A smile worked it's way onto my face, "What if I could unfreeze it?" Unfreezing the earth couldn't be much different from melting ice, right?

"Then you'd have to find seeds to plant them with. Do you have any seeds?" The woman said, almost challengingly.

I sighed, "No."

"You can't farm until you have all the bits and pieces. You need every part to make a whole," her words were wise, almost seemingly beyond her age. But then again, just how old was she? I wanted to say the same age as Ipiktok, but something told me that she was older. Much older. And I didn't know why.

"Boy!" The chief's voice called from outside. I must have lost track of time. All the men were going on a hunt today. I was required to go along.

"I've got to go," I told the woman, standing and turning towards the door. Just before I left, she spoke again.

"Atem."

I frowned, unfamiliar with this word too, "I'm sorry. What?"

"Atem. It's my name," she said.

I sucked in a breath, shocked at this admission. I didn't know why she'd told me such a thing now, of all times.

So I asked, "Why?"

"I told you. I'd tell you one day. I don't make a habit of lying," the woman - Atem - looked up through her long hair, playing with the red ends.

I tried to say something smart, something memorable, but I found no words on my tongue. All I could do was awkwardly smile and duck out of the igloo. My hands were still shaking, the sound of her name dining in my head, as I gathered my spear and made my way out of the village to going the hunt.

* * *

><p>I sensed it before anyone else saw it. The village, upon our return, felt wrong at a distance. I could feel it with my fire - the igloos too short, the fire kicked out, the storage area open and empty. Then I realized what was wrong.<p>

"It's a raid!" I called, sprinting back towards the village. Some of the others joined me, having learning to trust my judgment when it came to these things over the years. But most of them snorted at my supposed foolishness. They were nothing but idiots - I always knew the truth.

Tupit was one of them. He jogged along beside me, boots crushing the snow beneath our feet as he took each step. He was the first to smell the smoke, calling out across the snow drifts to his father and telling him to hurry.

This want the first time that another tribe had attacked us. A few winters ago, when food became so scarce that women started to abandon their newborn babies in the snow drifts to avoid feeding another mouth, Chief Ignirtoq lead one against a group that had wander by. They stole food and sometimes women (though why they would want women was beyond me), but such things were only done when desperate.

From what I saw, these people didn't seem like they were desperate. They're faces were not boney and thin with hunger, rather full and plump like they'd been over stuffed with whale blubber. They were well fed, so why were they stealing?

There was a roar from behind me as Chief Ignirtoq sped past me towards the man who'd grabbed his wife. The Chief raised his Club, but the man was fast - almost too fast to be real - and he was sent flying backwards. Buniq started to cry when her husband didn't get up.

My tribes warriors fell upon the invaders, attempting to drive them from our village. But these men seemed almost too strong, too agile. I saw a green stone hanging from one of their necks on a thread-barren cord. It swung in front of him as he bent over a woman with a sick smile on his face.

That woman was my mother. There was a nasty cut on her forehead. He'd hurt her.

"No!" I screamed, lowering my spear. The man turned to me, sneering but I didn't care. The fire within me raced from my core to the tip of it's blade. I planted my feet firmly on the ground and thrust forwards with my spear.

He thought I was too far away to hurt him. He was wrong.

Ice formed at the tip of my spear, before rapidly extending and impaling him through his stomach. A dark red patch spread from his injury, but I wasn't done yet.

I froze his blood in his veins. I froze his food in his stomach. I froze his brain in his head. I froze his eyes open so that he would see me even in death. I froze every bit of liquid I could find in him and then I shattered him as I wrenched my spear free.

It was only after I'd finished that I realized what I'd done. I fell to my knees, feeling sick.

"Bastard!" Someone screamed behind me. I turned just in time to see another man raising a club at my head, ready to bring it down and-

Something blow his head off. It was faster than anything I'd ever seen before, faster than it took for sound to reach it's destination. I turned and saw her.

The woman. The bitey-mad lady. Atem.

I'd seen a bow once in my life. My father used to carry one, but found it difficult to hunt with in the winter. Atem had one in her hands, more detailed and intricately made than any quickly thrown together one that my father could make. Her long hair blew behind her majestically, her eyes hard, determined, and most of all alive. For a moment, I forget how to breathe.

She stalked over to me, strong and proud, pulling me to my feet, "Get up. Get up, Bakura. You're not done yet."

She'd called me by my name. My name. Mine. So I did. I got up. I clenched my spear, hardened my emotions, and moved.

And the world moved with me. The fire that lived within me burned everywhere and suddenly ice sprung from the ground, stabbing those who came too close to me. Atem raised her bow, firing arrows that seemed to be made of light - except they weren't just light, I could feel it and suddenly I knew.

She had a fire too. I wasn't the only one. And she knew how to use it.

She could teach me how to use mine. And maybe, just maybe, she could tell me what it was as well.

Just the two of us. Just us. We'd be great. We'd be amazing. Atem and I. That would be it and it would be wonderful.

And then it hit. As soon as the last of the invaders fell, it hit.

That was the day I died for the first time. And the second. And the third. And the fourth.

I didn't understand why it was happening, but I could guess what. I was somehow, reliving the final moments of those I killed. I was feeling them die, remembering their last moments. It was horrible and wrong and terrible and I never wanted it to happen again.

But when it was over, all I could think about - all could and wanted to remember - was that Atem had a fire too.

* * *

><p>"No."<p>

"What? Why?"

"Because I don't want to," Atem said stubbornly. "I didn't come here to teach."

"But you've got to!" I whined.

"No I don't. Just...stay away from me," she sighed, trudging off towards where the men of the tribe were siting by the fire. I wasn't allowed over there because I'd yet to successfully pull off a hunt. Besides, even if I had, I didn't think they'd let me sit with them anyways.

Atem sat beside Krermertok. She actually sat beside Krermertok. How could she sit beside Krermertok?

And how could Krermertok let her sit beside him? That was were the men sat, not the women. And why did he keep looking at her like that?

I didn't know why, but I didn't like it. My fire lashed out and bowl that Krermertok was using broke in half and his portion of food for the night was lost to the fire. I smirked at my small victory.

Krermertok swore softly, earning him a cuff on the back of his head by one of the older men for wasting food. Atem, however, wasn't fooled. She looked across the fire at me, fixing me with a glare that made my confidence wither.

"You shouldn't have done that. You should have better control," he voice hissed in my mind. I jumped in my seat, nearly spilling my own food in surprise. What in the world was that? Atem hadn't said a word, but I'd heard her voice. How did she do that?

And then she handed Krermertok her food. Her food. Krermertok. I said it over and over in my head, but it didn't seem to make it any more acceptable in my mind.

She got up, excusing herself and heading back to her igloo. I followed closely behind, the path lit only by the distant firelight. When we were far enough away, I made my presence known.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"That thing. You spoke, but didn't at the same time. I heard you, just in my head," I told her. "Tell me how you did it."

"Why did you throw that boy's food into the fire?" She countered.

I faltered, not expecting that responses. I shrugged, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Then I don't know what you're talking about," Atem turned her back again. But this time, I didn't let her go. I leapt forwards and grabbed her arm.

Then next thing I knew, I was on my back. I thought (though I wasn't quite sure because it happened so fast) that Atem threw me to the ground.

"Don't touch me!" Her voice shook, not with anger but with terror. "Just don't touch me. You're not him. Leave me alone, please."

Then she dove through the entrance to her igloo, not looking back for a moment. I picked myself up, flung my hands upwards and yelled, "Why?"

* * *

><p>I left her alone for a week, darting away whenever I saw her nearby. At night, I spent a few hours before going to sleep staring at the entrance to her igloo, as if to will Atem out of it's confines. Why didn't she want to teach me? I wanted to learn, I wanted to know the secrets of the fire within me. Why should I not know? She didn't have a reason not to tell me, so why didn't she?<p>

Atem was so frustrating, it made me almost pull my hair out. I sulked in my corner of my family's igloo, sectioned off from the rest of the people living in there.

My mother sat on one of her blankets, sewing up a hole in one of her coats with a bone needle and thread. She hummed softly as she worked, ignoring me as I glared at the wall I knew was the closest to Atem's home.

There was a scuffled at the door, before I heard the murmur of a voice. Krermertok's voice. My mood worsened dramatically.

"Corazon?" He asked, sticking his head inside and spotting my mother. She put down her sewing and smiled at him. He continued, "I think something's wrong with bear...Uh...," he turned towards me, face whitening. Krermertok hadn't called me bear cub since my first hunt. "I think there's something wrong with Bakura's woman."

If there was one thing that put my mind at ease, it was that no one else was privy to the knowledge of Atem's name. I was the only one she'd told. Everyone else just called me my woman or my pet. Though, judging by what Krermertok almost called her, they must be calling her the bear cub's woman as well.

"Then why hasn't Bakura informed me of such a problem?" My mother's voice was as soft as she was, almost whimsical in nature. But her eyes were hard as rocks when she spoke of or to me. "Has he been neglecting his duty?"

"I think she's sick," Krermertok spoke again, this time urgently. "Can you take a look at her?"

"I'll see what I can do," my mother sighed, rising to her feet and leaving. Krermertok didn't go though.

"Neglecting your whore, bear cub?" He spat, but disappeared before I could retaliate. I didn't know what he'd called Atem or what it meant, but Krermertok hadn't said it like it was a good thing, so I didn't like it. He'd pay later. I had more important things to do.

I rushed towards the place where knew she was: that igloo that I'd made her, the one she never seemed to leave. My mother, one of the better medicine woman in the village, had already shooed Krermertok and his friends from the inside, preferring to treat Atem alone. I tried to force my way in, but they blocked my path.

"You think you're just going to walk in their bear cub?" One of them smirked.

"Yeah. You haven't spoken to your whore in so long, she's gotten lonely. She only talks to us now," Krermertok grinned.

"Let me through," I growled.

"Or what?" Said the final man, cracking his knuckles. "What are you going to do? Go crying to your brothers. Oh wait, Ipiktok doesn't care about what happens to you anymore."

"You're nobody. Your parents didn't even bother give you a human name. Only a name a bear would have," Krermertok laughed.

"Let me through," I said once more, but to no avail. They just kept laughing, kept mocking me. I was sick of this. I was better than this, better than them. I was a genius, Atem had said so herself. I was so much smarter thsn they could ever hope to be and I deserved -

"Bakura?" My mother, looking rather shaken, appeared from the entrance to Atem's igloo. "It's the woman. She wants to speak with you."

I blinked, confused. That was a first.

I pushed passed Krermertok and his gang, entering Atem's makeshift home. She was lying on the ground, hurled in a multitude of blankets. Her eyes were closed and her brow sweaty.

"She has a fever. I'm going to try and get her to sweat it out, but..." my mother's voice was hushed, as if scared. "She keeps calling for you."

And then I heard it, amongst a series of other words I didn't understand. My name. Atem kept saying my name over and over again.

I stumbled my way over to her, kneeling down on the furs. I ran my hand through her long hair.

"I'm here," I told her. "I'm right here."

A hand - her hand and it was boiling hot with illness - shot out and gripped my wrist. Atem cracked over an eye, but I didn't think that she could see me. She was hallucinating from the fever, so maybe she didn't see anything. She continued to mutter nonsense words before going back to sleep.

She didn't let go of my hand and I didn't want her to.

* * *

><p>I dreamt again that night. And for the first time, I dreamt of Atem.<p>

She was sitting next to an old man, his face so lined with wrinkles and his hair a silvery white that I'd only seen in the rarest of the elderly, the tough ones that managed to live as long as they did against all odds. The place they were in had to have been the south that she has described to him earlier, because it was warm and soft and things where growing everywhere you looked.

The man spoke in a wispy voice, saying things that I didn't understand. Atem's hair was much shorter, only falling to mid length down her back. This confused me. Hair took a long time to grow out and her's was currently down to her knees. And yet Atem's face looked exactly the same.

**"It's not just that,"** the voice of a thousand voices spoke again. **"We're showing you something from a very long time ago."**

"How long?" I asked.

**"This occurred almost one hundred and fifty years ago."**

My heart stopped. I froze up. Impossible. No one could live that long. No one could be that old. You were lucky to hit forty before you were killed by the cold or the lack of food or disease. To say that Atem was over one hundred and fifty years old...impossible.

**"What do you know of the Red Traveler?"** The voice asked again.

The Red Traveler? What a silly question? Every child had heard of the Red Traveler. It was a tale about a warrior who couldn't age, that wanted north from the south and...oh...oh...

Oh.

And I was supposed to be the genius.

I woke up with a start, staring directly at Atem. She still had her hand clenching my wrist, still murmuring in her sleep. Her hair flopped in front of her face, nearly hiding it from view.

Atem was the Red Traveler. She was a warrior. She couldn't age.

"Fascinating," I whispered before laying back down and falling back asleep. I would ponder the ramification of in the morning.

_"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance."  
>- Inuit proverb<em>

* * *

><p><strong>I'm back!<strong>

**I'd like to thank all of those who reviewed for the last phase: Aqua girl 007, Mandalore159, ilovemanicures, RiverTear980, Nekura Ryu, and zukofan2005.**

**Wow, it's been almost a month since I posted something. I'm really sorry it took me so long to get this up. I ran into some writer's block that was caused by a combination of personal issues that needed to be straightened out and me searching frantically for a job. Luckily, I was able to kill said writer's block dead by having a good long skype conversation with two of my friends, one of whom is a hardcore D&D fanatic and the other a lover of RPGs. Lets just say that they are quite original with some of their ideas and leave it at that.**

**...Gnomes with arm cannons...beautiful...**

**So this is the next instalment of Thief King's story. He's a persistent little bugger that doesn't like taking no for an answer. He'll wear Atem down eventually, but it will take her a while to even build up the courage to want to be in the same area as him for extended periods of time.**

**Also, there are some new pages up on the wiki. They include the Ancients, Pete Coppermine, Heavenly Sound, Humans, The Leviathan, Tadeo the Tavern Owner, and Duke Devlin.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	3. Thief King Bakura: Third Phase

**The Spirits: Resurrection**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo and 4Kids Entertainment. The following historical account is ninety percent fact and ten percent unavoidable estimation.

* * *

><p><strong>Thief King Bakura: Third Phase<strong>

_"Don't let the windows of your home be so small that the light of the sun cannot enter your rooms."  
>- Inuit Proverb<em>

"I'm right, aren't I?" I grinned, leaning forward eagerly. Atem flinched and nervously spooned some her portion of food into her bowl. The light of the fire reflected in her eyes. "You're the Red Traveler. I thought you were just a story before, but it's true. I say you - well, not really. It was you, but in a dream I had. And the voice said -"

"What does it matter?" She hissed, nervously edging away from me.

"They say you can breathe fire. They say you can defeat entire armies. They say you can do all sorts of crazy, impossible things, but it's because you have a flame, too," I rocked in my seat with excitement.

"As I said" what does it matter? I may be this Red Traveler person, I may not. I don't know and I really don't care," she growled. Getting up, she moved away from the fire and started back towards her igloo. I followed behind, leaving my food where it lay.

"They say that you can life forever," I tried one last time. Atem froze mid step, shoulders tense and uncertain. "Is that true?"

She turned her head slowly until she was facing me. Her lips were a thin, barely visible line, "No."

"Oh," I was disappointed at this revelation. The idea of living passed forty had been so striking, so amazing, that I'd been so tempted to believe in the impossible, just for a second. It was stupid; only fools that believed that whistling at the sky colours would get your head chopped off would believe in things like immortality.

She sighed, looking defeated, "But I am older than I look."

I blinked, "How much older?"

"A lot. About six times older than your father."

A shock ran through my body. Older than my father? But he was almost twice my age and I was a man in all but hunting ability. And she was...

"Why? Why are you...how is that possible?" I stammered, jogging up to were she stood.

Atem's eyes closed painfully, "I did a terrible thing. And this is my punishment."

"How is living forever a punishment?" I frowned. Imagine all the things I could learn, the things I could do, if I was immortal. I would be able to know everything there was out there. I would be great.

"You wouldn't understand," she grumbled and started walking again.

"What did you do?" I asked, intrigued at the idea.

"Maybe later," she hazarded a glance at me out of the corner of her eye. Her long hair was blown in front of her face for a moment and she wrestled to see through it. I reached up and tried to help her. My fingers brushed her's.

There was another jolt, but this time it was diffent. It wasn't surprise, I knew that much. My insides seemed to twist and my face burned. I backed away quickly.

"S-sorry," I didn't understand what it was that made me so nervous. It was like nothing I'd ever felt before.

A look of annoyance passed over her face and I half thought that it was because of me. But then she clarified the subject of her displeasure, but tugging frustratedly on her long hair.

"My mother, she...uh...sometimes she braids the other women's hair. Maybe it would help with...you know..."

Atem nodded, throwing her long hair behind her back. She continued her walk back and didn't make a sound of discomfort as I walked beside her. I clasped my hands behind my back - they were suddenly very twitchy and sweaty and I didn't know why.

"So..."

"Hmmn?"

"Will you teach me? I mean, because you've got a flame and I've got a flame and I don't know how to use it and you do. Please?"

She said a word that I didn't recognize. I frowned, "What?"

She repeated it, then looked as if she was struggling with a word that was on the tip of her tongue, "Tor...um, torng...what's the saying? Uh, Torng-"

"Torngak?" I supplied, almost insulted. Torngak were the animal spirits that Angakoks, or shamans, used. They weren't real. I'd seen the chief attempt to call upon a few several years back and there was nothing , not even slightest hint of anything, for me to even begin to believe in something as silly as Torngak.

"It's the best word I can come up with from your language," Atem shrugged, uncaring.

"There's no such thing," I rolled my eyes. She glared at me as she bent over and entered her igloo.

"You can freeze men to death and you don't believe in Torngak? Hypocrite."

"That's - that's different!" I cried, "That's the flame!"

"The flame is Torngak. It's the proper name for it," Atem stressed.

"I do not have an animal spirit living in my body!" I stomped my foot on the ground. That was the most idiotic thing I'd ever heard in my entire life.

She sighed, "Dark Magician Girl."

I shrieked as the world seemed to part and a woman joined us in the small space. She was impossible, stepping from nowhere. Her clothes were hard, sticking out at odd angles like her hair. Her hair! It was yellow like the sun! It was impossible! How? Why? What was this?

Torngak. This was Torngak. Torngak was real.

"Brrr! Atem, it's cold here!" The woman shivered, clutching her barely covered body. "I don't think I like it too much."

"I apologize," she smiled slightly.

"It's okay...oh," the woman's gaze snapped to me, eyes widening. "Oh my...that's...Atem, he's-"

"No," Atem's voice was cutting and sharp. "No. Dark Magician Girl, he is not."

The yellow-haired woman's shoulder slumped, "I could have sworn...he looks so much like -"

"No!" She yelled, fists clenched at her side.

"Alright," Dark Magician Girl - what an odd name - withered. She floated (floated, actually floated!) towards Atem, leaning in slightly. She backed up suddenly, turning her face away.

"I see," Dark Magician Girl sighed. She turned to me, "Watch out for her."

Then she disappeared back into the hole in the air.

"There are spirits, but not all of them are animals. Some are people," Atem explained, eyes dull.

My jaw flapped, but nothing came out. Torngak was real. It was actually real. A sudden wave of cold passed over me: what else was a wrong about? I thought about all the times I'd whistled at the ancestors. Could I have really been risking my head?

"It's not all that can be done," she hinted and I was drawn in like a seal to a hole in the ice.

"Show me. Please. There's no one else besides you who can."

Atem was silent for a whole moment and I thought that she would say no - and at the time time, hoping beyond anything I'd wanted before that she said yes. She looked up at me, "Take me to your parents."

* * *

><p>It takes nearly a month for her to convince them that I was an Agnakok. It still seemed surreal to me, the idea that I might have been wrong and that Torngak might be real. My mind was practically spinning with the possibilities of what I might be able to do.<p>

It wouldn't be long now before the brief summer months would roll around and we would be able to hunt caribou and wear lighter clothing. The earth under foot would cease to be the icy tundra and instead turn into dirt with the occasional patch of thick, stubbornly growing grass.

I wondered if Atem could teach me to farm. It sounded like an interesting concept - growing your own food.

News traveled fast amongst the tribe. There had always been whispers behind my back, but this time they were different. They cared a respect in them that I was almost unfamiliar with, usually attributing it to Chief Ignirtoq or Tupit for being his son. It felt good, being recognized for my true potential. They knew what I could do now.

Krermertok and his band spoke in hushed whispers as I passed them. His face twisted with anger, but was docile and fearful. I almost laughed. Finally, he knew I was the best.

Chief Ignirtoq sat next to the fire, surrounded by my parents, brother, and his own son. Ipiktok looked nervously at me before gazing back into the flame. Atem stood off to the side, her long hair now bound tightly in a braid that ran down her back.

"Boy, come here," the Chief motioned with his hand. I moved eagerly towards him, knowing what was going to happen. Finally, I would be given permission to start my trained to become an Angakok.

"She," he nodded towards Atem with his head, "informs me that you a capable of using Torngak. I don't believe her. She is lying and you are no better."

Rage boiled in my stomach, "What?! That stupid! I - I can! This isn't fair!"

"No idiot would believe that a child like you could be an Angakok. The very idea is ridiculous," he spat. "For uttering such falsehoods, she will be banished from this land, never to return."

I gapped, head snapping to Atem. Her eyes focused on anything that wasn't me. No. No this couldn't be happening.

"But you've seen me - the hunt! My first hunt, you saw me use it!"

"I don't know what I saw. It could have been anything or nothing at all," the chief scoffed.

I became desperate, "Ipiktok, tell them about the lights! I can make them change colour! Tupit, you saw me clear the snow to make a path! Tell him! Don't - don't do this to me! I can't loose this!"

They said nothing, just looked away. I couldn't breathe.

"I'll...I'll show you, I'll prove it to you, I can use it! I'm a Angatok! I can use Torngak! I have a flame, really!"

The wind picked up around me, the snow swirling at my feet. I gritted my teeth.

"My decision is final," the chief had to raise his voice to speak over the blowing gusts of air. My mother's eyes squeezed shut and she buried her face in my father's shoulder.

I growled and the sky darkened. It groaned and rumbled with me. The wind whipped around me and nearly toppled many of the igloos. Light coursed down from the sky and struck the ground beside me. Smoke arouse from the earth and a small fire sparked to life.

"Bakura!" Atem stepped forward, "Control. You need to control this. Now."

I closed my eyes, suddenly realizing the flame - no, it was Torngak, not flame - was everywhere. Up in the sky, down in the earth. Everywhere. And completely erratic.

I inhaled, slowly, through my nose and exhaled through my mouth. I drew my Torngak back into me, with each breath the world became more calm and collected. Once all of it had returned, I dropped to my knees. I was tired, my whole body aching.

"Well?" Atem spoke directly to Chief Ignirtoq, raising an eyebrow. She was eerily still after my display, whereas everyone else was shaken to the bone.

The Chief stood suddenly, knees shaking, "As we discussed then."

His eyes snapped to me before shuddering. He lumbered off, fingers clenched around the knife on his belt. Atem hummed a response to his retreating form.

"He can't banish you," I croaked. Failure seeped into my bones. I hadn't stopped it. She was leaving.

"He's not going to," she huffed. "That wasn't our agreement."

I looked up, "What?"

Atem shifted back and forth awkwardly, "Ignirtoq wanted to see your potential for himself. The only way to get you to do something big was to get you angry. As it stands, you passed his test. You are both to report to me tomorrow morning for your first lesson as Angakok."

It took several seconds to sink in what she'd said. Lesson. I had a lesson. She was going to teach me to use Torngak!

I leapt up, all tiredness forgotten. Dancing in place, I yelped and cheered because I'd won! I was going to be the best and the greatest Angakok ever and -

Wait a moment.

"Atem? What do you mean: both?"

* * *

><p>Tupit had Torngak. Tupit had Torngak. Tupit had Torngak.<p>

This was idiotic. How could someone like him, who wasn't anywhere near my level of genius, be a Angakok? It just wasn't fair. This was supposed to be just Atem and I. He wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the two of us.

The thing that irked me the most was that I suspected Atem favoured him as a student more than she did me. She was always on my case about how I needed to downsize my power, try something smaller - the big stuff comes later. She spoke in hushed tones to him and occasionally her lips would twitch into a smile.

Something seemed to be stabbing me in the gut whenever I thought about it. I didn't like this development at all.

"...so she said that I had to just focus my mind, you know? Like your spear. And I could be able to look into anyone's mind," Tupit grinned beside me as we sat around the fire with the rest of the tribe for the final meal of the day. As he continued to talk, I picked at my food, feeling not the slightest bit hungry.

It was starting to well up inside me again. That empty space within me threatened to consume my very soul and nothing seemed to be able to stop it, I felt broken and somehow knew that it was all Tupit's fault.

"What do you think, Bakura?" He looked at me expectantly. I felt like I'd swallowed rotten meat.

"Yeah. Great," I grumbled. And, like he always did, Tupit went back to talking.

"I know, right? Father says that I shouldn't ask, but still - think of how strong the tribe would be with such a powerful Angakok as the wife of the Chief."

I stumbled, tripping over my own feet, "You want to what?!"

"I was going to ask her tomorrow. To marry me. It would be really good for the tribe. Father agrees as well," he shrugged. "That's why he wanted her to train me."

"They - she - agreed...what? How? Why?" I could barely force the words out. No way. Atem wouldn't. She couldn't. Nononono.

I stumbled away, not looking back at him. I ran towards Atem's igloo, ducking inside the entrance. It was empty. Where could she have gone?

I tried to concentrate, thinking of all the places she might go. I'd only ever seen her in three places: at the fire, in this place, and at the training grounds. But I knew that she'd come back with us, she wasn't at the fire, and she wasn't here. So where...?

I had to find her. Before Tupit. She couldn't marry him. She just couldn't. I didn't know why she couldn't and for once I didn't feel the need to find out. It was simply one of the unexplained truths of the world: Atem couldn't marry Tupit.

I bolted out of the tent. She had to be somewhere. It's not like she could disappear; or maybe she could. I'd never seen the true extent of her she could just disappear. The very thought of that made it jump and jolt within me.

The sun was far down beneath the horizon by the time I spotted her. Sitting behind one of the farther homes from the fire, she drew shapes into the beaten down slush. Atem looked up just as I came into ear shot. She didn't say a word, just blinked, and turned back to the snow.

"I've been looking for you," I told her. She grunted, but continued not to turn her head towards me. "Tupit, he said...Uh, he said some stuff."

Again, I got nothing. I shuffled from side to side before continuing, "He said that he was going to ask you to marry him."

Atem froze, rigid and lifeless. She bit her bottom lip, "Ah."

"You can't. You can't say you. You just can't," I told her.

Something passed over her face. She was scared, I could tell that much, but at the same time, she almost looked happy.

"Why?" She whispered and a shiver ran down my spine as my favorite word left her lips.

"You just can't," I repeated. "I...I don't want you to."

Atem stood, eyes bright. Her hair was pulled out of it's braid for the first time in a while. I remembered vaguely that my mother had first tied it back for her almost three months ago.

"But why? What don't you want to? There has to be a reason," she stepped forwards.

I squirmed, "Well, there's this thing. I don't know what, but...it's in here." I pointed to my chest, where it resided. "It doesn't want you to...I don't know how to explain it better, but that's it."

Atem was right in front of me, face full of wonder and disbelief. She put her hand on my chest right over my heart, "It?"

"It's like a hole. Do you have one?"

"No. No, I do not," her hand shifted slightly, traveling upwards towards where my collar met my neck. It rested there, tracing circles that made my breath quicken.

"Then what is it?"

Atem Moved her hand again. It cupped my cheek as she leaned in, her forehead resting against my own. She let out a shaky breath, "Is it you?"

What?

"Is it you?" She whispered again, "Are you here, inside this child? Please, just tell me. Give me a sign - anything."

"Who are you talking to?" I could barely speak. She didn't say a word. Her lips drifted forwards and pressed, once again, against mine.

Oh no. Not this again.

I jumped back before the bitting could begin. I didn't care if she was my teacher, if the mysterious it didn't want her to marry Tupit. I had to draw a line somewhere.

"Stop that!" I cried, "I don't know what it's like where you come from, but here we don't try to eat people!"

Atem blink, confused at my words, before something - some odd sound - erupted from her lips. It was strangled and hoarse, almost unpleasant to listen to. And then it happened again, only this time it was lighter and longer. I realized, with shocked clarity, at Atem was laughing.

Her chuckles became more joyful as she wrapped an arm around her stomach, her shoulders shaking with mirth. She fell to the ground, knees giving out, and continued to laugh at something - I had no idea what.

"What's so funny?" I asked, almost frightened by her quick change of emotional state.

"You thought I was - ah-ha-ha! You thought I was eating you, gods above, that hilarious!" She sounded like she was having a hard time breathing, "For someone so smart, you're surprisingly stupid."

"I'm not stupid! You said I was a genius! I'm really smart!"

She didn't hear me. She just continued to laugh.

But the next time, as the sun rose, Atem waited outside the entrance to my family's tent for me to come out. There wasn't as much doom and gloom on her face as there was in days previous.

"You're not going to bite me again, are you?" I asked hesitantly.

"No. No 'biting'. Not unless you want me to," she rolled her eyes. I gave her a look, because honestly, why would I ever ask for that. That was dumb.

* * *

><p>The wind roared around me, circling and twisting and powerful. I was in control. This was my domain, my strength. A year of learning, of training, and strength had been sown into my very structure. I smiled, gazing at the world around me. It was mine to do as I wished with it. It purred in my chest. I was a king.<p>

Tupit stood beside me, his body ablaze with yellow flames. Secretly, though never openly, I was proud of him. We'd grown beside each other in the last year. The loss of Ipiktok seemed so trivial now. I had a brother in arms. My fellow Angakok. We were the pride of our tribe.

I pointed towards the ocean, which remained unfrozen for a few months each year, and the waves rose above my head before coming crashing down. I could feel every single bit of the world, so small and yet so powerful and I could do anything I wanted with it. As Tupit called the air towards him to push him upwards, I did the same and we raised towards the sky.

It whirled beneath us, our own miniature storm, and I wondered just how many would see the world from this high up. Something whirled underneath us, a massive skeletal shape with wings and a screeching roar. Atem sat at the base of it's neck, looking up at us with her long braid of hair flowing behind her.

"Fight me," she instructed, maroon eyes hard. My heart jumped in my chest as I let the wind drop me and I fell down, down, down out of the reach of her creature's blast of fire.

I pointed my spear towards the clouds as the air rushed in my ears, sending a strike of lightning down towards Atem. The creature spun in the air to avoid it, though not fast enough to avoid Tupit's assault. He blasted himself onto it's back and he raced at blinding speeds towards Atem. She kept to her feet and blocked his incoming strike with her arm, engaging him one on one and leaving the beast to me.

I flipped midair, facing the surface of the water that was coming closer and closer as I continued to fall. I swirled my arms and the water rose up towards me, cushioning my eventual impact with it. It was freezing cold and soaked through my many layers, but I ignored the pain and focused on having it push me upwards at alarming speeds. I shot out of the ocean, turned the water in my clothes to ice and throwing it in spikes towards the dragon. They shattered against it's bone body, but caught it's attention. It's skeletal head turned towards me and it opened it's mouth. I had just enough time to wave a wall of water in front of me to protect me from the flames.

Using the air, I pushed myself upwards and rammed through the fire, aiming my spear towards it's eye - the only soft part of it's body. It screamed in pain, thrashing it's head around as I stabbed it, quickly jumping backwards to avoid being struck. I flew around the creature as it began to loose altitude, grabbing onto Tupit's outstretched hand and pulling him from his battle.

"Thanks!" He shouted through the roaring wind. I grimaced, my control over my flight straining under our combined weights. Tupit quickly summoned his own monster - a winged, green furred animal named Feral Imp - and climbed onto it's back. Atem had recalled her fallen creature and was in hot pursuit on the back of another with the call of "Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress."

"Split up!" I yelled, "She can only chase one of us!"

"Got it," he responded, nudging the Imp into zipping to the right. I took the left and I felt a lot of pride int he fact that Atem went after me. But then her dragon-thing belched fire in my direction and I had more things to worry about.

Swerving right, I Morphed the clouds round her into a dense fog. But that didn't stop her - I foolishly remembered that she could track me by the feel of my power - and she pelted right through. Tupit swung in behind her and breathed yellow flames, forcing Atem to respond with her own maroon fire. Her arms extended and she burned the flame's feed from the air, forcing both to go out.

She countered my lightning with lightning, Tupit's mind probes with her shields. For every creature we took down, she brought out three more that were bigger and more powerful than the one before. Nothing seemed to exhaust her. It was in that moment that I saw her for who she really was - a Lady Warrior. Atem was beautiful and strong and amazing. I doubted that there was a thing in all of creation that she couldn't do.

Our battle dwindled to a halt and Tupit and I were left to catch our breath on the ground. Atem landed in front of us on the back of a massive red sky snake with two mouths. As it gazed down at us, it nodded to her and spoke in a rumbling voice that shook the earth.

"You've gone well, youngling. They are strong, incredibly so," it looked at her proudly.

"Most of it is their own hard work, Slifer," she counter humbly.

"They work hard in your name. Never forget that. That boy," he nodded to Tupit, "is strong like the lions of the Savannas to the far west. He will be a good king for his people on day.

"And this one," Slifer's eyes narrowed as he leaned down. The tip of his muzzle almost touched my nose, "He is one to watch out for, all tricks and misleading maneuvers. He is like a thief, in that aspect."

I gritted my teeth, remembering what the children used to call me. But then Atem's face softened as she turned to me, "One of...some of the best people I've ever known were thieves, Bakura. There is no need to be offended."

I blinked. She...liked thieves? I scuffed at the ground awkwardly with my foot. Why did that make my stomach feel tangled and knotted?

"They should see the world, youngling. Especially your thief-boy. He is destined for more things than this patch of ice," and with that Slifer disappeared in a whirl of black smoke.

"What did he mean, you're destined for more things?" Tupit asked, "You're not leaving, are you?"

"I don't think so," I answered, though I was excited at the idea of seeing what the world had to offer.

"Slifer is often cryptic. Don't worry about it," Atem sighed. "Come. It is almost time for dinner."

We raced back, speeding across the ice at impossible speeds, towards the tribe. I slid in just in front of Tupit, grinning wildly. The smell of freshly caught elk hit my nose (a rare treat only available during these summer months) and I sat down in my preferred spot, pulling out my bowl. A hand fell on my shoulder.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Atem's voice nearly made me jump out of my skin. She never sat with me, often preferring the company of Tupit or my mother. As I nodded ever so slowly and my stomach crawled with unexplainable nervousness, she eased into the seat next to me, pulling her braid over her shoulder and playing with the red tip at the end of the long rope of black.

"There's something I want to talk with you about. It's about what Slifer said," she whispered.

"Should I get Tupit?" I offered, thinking that he'd want to hear this as well. But she shook her head.

"No, this is for your ears only. I've been thinking as of late that...it's about time that I moved on."

My heart stopped, 'What?"

"People are starting to notice, Bakura, that I don't change. I need to leave or there will be questions that I don't want to have answer," she looked into the fire solemnly.

"No, you...you can't go! I won't let you, you have to stay -"

"I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."

I stopped dead in my tracks. Leave? I could leave and go and see the world and walk away from everything I'd ever known? My hands shook and my breath came in short wheezes. Atem rested her hand on my knee, "You don't have to decide now. And you don't have to if you don't want to. But the option is there. I understand if you don't want to leave your family or your obligation to Tupit -"

"Tupit?" And then I remembered the promise I'd made him, that I'd stand by his side when he became chief. And my family, what was I going to do about them? Could I leave them? Could I leave everything behind?

"Why? Why me? Why not Tupit? Would he not be better?" I asked.

Atem shrugged, "I have my reasons."

"But what are they?" I asked.

Her hand on my knees moved, traveling upwards and resting in the joint between my shoulder and my neck. The weight of her was comforting. She smiles sadly.

"I don't mind this - us. What we have," it soundly like she was having a difficult time admitting it, but I sensed no lies in her voice.

"We have something?" I stammered.

"Yes," she said plainly. "And that something is the reason why, a year ago, I said no to Tupit's marriage proposal."

I had no idea how those two things were connected, but they made sense in Atem's mind apparently. Her mind worked strangely sometimes.

"You said no...because of me?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I'm not really understanding, but alright. Um...and you're not going to give Tupit the same offer," I tried to process what was going on.

"No, I am not."

"Alright. And is there a time limit on when I should be giving you an answer?"

"I will not leave before you come to your conclusion."

"Alright," I nodded one final time. Something told me that I would have some serious thinking to do in the next while.

"This isn't a decision that you should make lightly," Atem said. "Make sure you think this through."

Then she got up and headed back to her igloo. I watched her retreating form until she became one with the shadows of the night.

That was the day everything changed.

"_Glorious it is when wandering time is come."  
>- Inuit Proverb<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Finally! Thief King was being willing enough to share his story that I could finish up this damned chapter!<strong>

**In all seriousness, though, I don't think I've ever had a character that was this difficult to write. He's so childish yet so intelligent at the same time. That complete contrast makes him interesting, but at the same time he's so hard to get a good grasp on. But he's going to go through some serious growing up soon and its not going to be pretty.**

**So Thief King's story should be wrapping up soonish, which also means that I'm going to kill him off in a really epic battle that would put most hurricanes to shame. He's a genius when it comes to magic, which is why he's able to do the things he can after only one year of being formally trained. In other news, I can't wait to get into Touzoku's story because of this theme: depression. Thief King's is group ignorance and acceptance, if you haven't figured that one out yet.**

**Also, on a slightly off topic but not really note, I'm posting a few things up on Odd Happenings that I've been working on while this chapter was in progress in the next few days. The one that's going up right after I post this chapter will include some spoilers to The Second Year as well as Magic. We'll be seeing a side of him in that section that we've never seen before.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	4. Thief King Bakura: Forth Phase

**The Spirits: Resurrection**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo and 4Kids Entertainment. The following historical account is ninety percent fact and ten percent unavoidable estimation.

* * *

><p><strong>Thief King Bakura: Forth Phase<strong>

"_You never really know your friends from your enemies until the ice breaks."  
>- Inuit Proverb<em>

Tupit wasn't exactly angry, but he wasn't thrilled either when I brought up the subject of me leaving. He ground his teeth and avoided eye contact, clear indicators that he was agitated.

"It's just a thought," I told him. "It doesn't mean that I'm going to."

"I just don't understand why you'd want to," his voice was quiet, nervous even. He looked at me hesitantly before continuing to stare at his boot-covered feet, "I…I don't want you to leave me – I mean, the tribe."

"Don't you ever wonder what else is out there?" I asked.

"No. All that I want to know is right here. Here with you and Atem and my father. This is our tribe, Bakura. Our home. Why would you ever want to leave?" He said sadly.

"Because I wonder what else is out there, Tupit. I want to know what there is beyond the horizon, on the other side of the sea. I want to know why the snow falls and why the ground turns –"

"The ground doesn't turn. The ground is flat," he cut me off.

"It turns. I can feel it under my feet. And I want to know why," I stressed. "Atem could give me that."

"Well, why didn't she give me the same invitation? Why just you?" Tupit jumped up suddenly.

"I don't know. She said that…it had something to do with why she refused to marry you last year, but I don't understand what she meant by that."

"So its true then," he hissed. "What everyone's saying. You and her are…you're…"

"We're what? I don't understand what everyone is saying. Isn't it obvious what Atem and I are?"

"You disappear into her igloo for hours on end, she watches you every night at dinner. Yes, I think it's obvious what you two are," Tupit hissed. "You're lovers!"

"What?" I asked, confused. I had no idea how those two things he'd just mentioned meant that Atem and I were going to get married.

"And your brother said that you and her…that you…" Tupit turned pink and touched his fingers together, as if indicating something.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I frowned, still on comprehending what was going on. "All she is to me is what she or I am to you."

Apparently, I said the wrong thing because Tupit's face went from pink to red in an instant. He stammered, trying to get a word out before sitting back down again in a series of movements that were almost stiff. It was like watching the ice move against itself, like any moment it would crack.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. Tupit fumbled with the ties on his coat and mumbled under his breath, "What was that?"

"Nothing," he said, moving away from me. "Absolutely nothing. I just…never mind. Forget it. If you want to leave, then leave. Do what you want, Bakura. I won't stand in your way. You and Atem both."

"Tupit? Tupit, wait! What are you…?" I called after him as he walked away, back stiff and rigid. He didn't answer me but I wanted to know just what I'd done to make him so upset. It didn't make any sense!

I could tell that it while it had something to do with me leaving, but I think it also had something to do with the fact that she'd asked me and only me to leave. It wasn't just jealousy and I didn't think that it was just anger over me wanting to leave. I just didn't understand!

* * *

><p>Tupit didn't speak to either of us much after that. Atem hand tried to get an audience with him though his father, but was denied on each occasion. She stopped trying after a while, though I thought that she'd figured something out - figured out the answer to the ever-posed question of 'why'.<p>

She didn't answer me when I asked, only looking off into the distance and saying, "I dont begrudge him. I understand, if nothing else."

Other than that, though, the world remained the same. The sun still rose in the morning sky and set in the evening. I had a theory about that, too. It had to do with the turning of the ground beneath my feet. And it sounded wild and interesting and I wished that I could see it in action but I believed that the earth was a spinning ball, held together by the same force that pulled things towards the ground, and was rotating around the sun. The moon I didn't fully grasp just yet, but the first theory made sense. I wondered what the sun was made of that made it so bright. Or how big it was or how far away. It was all so interesting, this theory that I'd cooked up in my mind one day while staring at the sky and trying to get the sun to change colour.

I asked Atem about it. She looked at me strangely for a while before saying that the moon was the daughter of the Earth god and that the sun was her youngest son. I sat there, utterly perplexed and confused as to how someone so smart and capable could believe in something so idiotic. It was as stupid as my brother and family believing that the sun was a man named Anningan and the moon, his sister Malina - that Anningan was chasing her down because of an argument that they'd had across the sky.

It was so stupid that she believed in that nonsense. I tried to tell her, but she stopped me before I could continue.

"Please," she'd whispered, hands clutching at her leather pants. "Don't say that. My gods are all I have left of my home."

I didn't say anything more, unable to stop fidgeting under her lonely gaze.

I hadn't come to a decision either about her offer. I knew that she was getting uncomfortable with the idea of staying in this place for much longer, but the thought of her being willing to stay behind until I made that choice was something that made my stomach do flips. It almost unnerved me how much I appreciated this action. But I knew I had to make a decision soon.

I must have packed and unpacked my bags a dozen times by now. I just couldn't choose. I wanted to see the rest of the world but at the same time, I had duties here. This was my home, my life. Did I want to trade that in for a world that I didn't know?

My hands twitched.

Yes. I did. I wanted to. I really, really wanted to.

I began grabbing my things, stuffing them into a seal skin sack that I could throw over my shoulder for carrying it across the ice flows. I'd tell her tonight, I promised myself. I'd tell her my choice and I'd tell Tupit my choice and he'd just have to live with it. That would be that.

Less than an hour later, I'd dumped the sacks contents on the floor of my family's summer tent and was berating myself for how stupid I was for trying to leave.

* * *

><p>A week later, I was woken in the middle of the night by the most horrifying noise I'd ever heard in my entire life. It was high pitched and grating, ear blistering and utterly deafening. Added to it were the wails of woken babies and the howls of the upset dogs. It took a few moments of me covering my ears, attempting to block out that awful noise, for me to realize that I was listening to someone - something - screaming.<p>

I stumbled out of my tent after Ipiktok and our parents, spear in hand. Tupit approached with a steady trot, gloved hands clamped over his ears, spoke to me for the first time since our fight, "It's not Torngak in origin. Whatever it is, though...it sounds like it's dying."

I grit my teeth together and concentrated. Ipiktok took a step back in fear of my powers as I sent my Torngak outwards in search of the noise. It picked up something in amongst the tribe itself: a flickering maroon flame that was burning on it's last embers. I took off towards it in a panic, Tupit following behind me.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Atem," I answered, utterly terrified. "Something's wrong with her."

Instead of going through the main entrance, I made a whole in the wall of her tent and slid inside. Once Tupit was inside, I closed it and concentrated solely on her. Atem was screaming at the top of her lungs, clawing at her skin like it's on fire. Tears stream from her terror filled eyes and her whole body is shaking uncontrollably.

"Atem?" I approached hesitantly, hand outstretched. She lashed out at me and smacked me away, speaking nonsense words that weren't from any language I ever heard before. She pulled at her long hair and backed away, spitting and hissing and shaking.

"What's wrong with her?" Tupit asked nervously.

"I don't know," I answered as Atem let loose another wail of audible death.

"We have to do something! She can't keep going like this," he said, voice shaking.

"You want to go near her when she's like this, go ahead," I looked at him incredulously, even though it was pulling towards her with an intensity that I'd never felt before. Because of it, I wanted nothing moe than to go over there and hold her in my arms until she stopped screaming. But I knew that if it did, Atem would do something more drastic then just smack my hand away.

But that did nothing to deter Tupit, who got up and moved towards Atem, saying, "It's okay. Hey, just listen. Everything is -rgk!"

His voice was cut off as Atem, who had a down right rabbid feel about her, grabbed him by the neck and flung him out of the tent, through the wall and out into the open air. I tracked his flight with surprising detail - Tupit landed almost a league away from where the farthest tent was, cushioning his fall with a blast of upwards air.

The hole in the wall filled in and I turned just in time to see Atem stalking forwards on all fours. I backed up quickly, but not quick enough as she pounced and lands on my lap, forcing my back to the ground.

"Where is it?" She growled, leaning over me as her heart blocked the rest of the world from view, "Where is it? I need it! I can feel it here!"

"I-I-I don't know," I stammered, trying to free my hands from her tight grip on my wrists. She hissed again, all sharp teeth and with no room for interpretation, and I stopped my struggles.

"If you don't..." she moved closer, our noses touching, "I need...I need..." And then her face changed, as if suddenly realizing what she was doing. Atem winced as if in pain before hiccuping and continuing, "Please help me. It burns. It hurts to much and I can't..."

She fell on me, knocking the wind out of my chest. I could feel her body quivering against me as I tried to calm my breathing but nothing seemed to help.

And then Atem licked my neck.

I jerked in surprise, "Wha...what are you do-ING?!"

She kept going, alternating between pressing her lips against my skin and tasting it with her tongue. It wasn't biting, no, and it felt strangely good in comparison to the mouth biting thing she did sometimes. My head lolled to the side and shuddered as she continued to suck on my neck. I didn't understand what was going on. My mouth hung open and I grasped helplessly at anything I could get in contact with - one of those things where her hips and I really, almost strangely liked how my hands just seemed to fit there like they'd been custom made for my grip.

"That's...that's okay...ah, well," I could barely form a sentence, barely concentrate because what was this? What was happening? It felt good but I didn't understand and then-

Atem rolled off me, scrambling to the other side of the room before letting loose another howl of pain. She started scratching at her arms again and, after I groggily turned my head towards her, broke through her skin, drawing blood in the process.

Hands still shaking, I crawled over to where she was. I wrestled her arms away from her, but she snapped and hissed with her mouth. Her eyes were bloodshot, veins making them see like they were bleeding. With strength that I didn't realize she possessed when not using Torngak, she pulled me down and continued to struggle in order to get away.

Avoiding getting bitten or having my eyes scratched out, I rolled her over onto her side, curving against the back. I hooked my legs around hers so that she couldn't kick her way out of my grasp as I locked her arms behind her back. Morphing a nearby fur blanket into a rope, I tied them up so that she couldn't hurt herself anymore.

Atem arched and snarled, tugging fiercely at her bindings. I clung to her, almost feeling the need to follow the asinine habit my mother had of praying to the ancestors for guidance, and tried to use my weight to get her to stop moving. She roared, "Please, just give it to me!" at the top of her lungs and writhed like a seal trapped in a net, hoping to get free.

"Uh… Am I interrupting something?"

Tupit's voice came from the entrance to the igloo. I glanced over at him, checking him over to make sure he was alright after his impromptu flight. His hair was covered in dirt and his jacket had a nasty rip in hit, but other then that, he looked fine. Confused, and a bit angry, but fine none the less.

"Don't just stand there! Get over here and help!" I snapped at him. His eyes widened in shock as his face lost a bit of colour.

"What?!" Tupit's voice cracked.

"Help me restrain her, I can't do it alone – ow!" Atem managed to get an elbow free and proceeded to slam it into the side of my face.

"O-oh, right," he nodded, carefully making his way over to where we were laying. "Um, where do you…want me?"

I wasn't even going to question why his face was red at the moment, "Just get in front of her and keep her still!"

"You want me to go near her mouth! She'll bite an ear off like this!" He squawked, looking terrified.

"Just do it!"

Tupit got down on his knees, looking like he'd want to be anywhere else. But his eyes never left Atem, biting his bottom lip until it bleed. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he laid himself down and wrapped his body around hers. He hid his face in her shoulder, twitching every time she growled.

It was then that I noticed that he'd wrapped his legs not only around her's, but mine. Tupit's hands were still gripping Atem tightly, not just in an attempt to keep her close, but in what seemed to be genuine like of being close to her. It was a sentiment I could understand – though my I felt the need to be physically close to Atem was baffling. I just really liked how her body seemed to mold to fit mine.

And then there was Tupit, who was muttering unintelligible words into her shoulder. There was just something there, something that I doubted that I'd ever understand even given ample time. But I swore that I'd seen it before, somewhere else. In someone else's eyes.

Atem had ceased in her struggles, like she had in the moments before the neck-licking thing. She was humming a song, one that I didn't know. It was probably once from her home, where ever that was.

In the south, I remembered. Somewhere in the far south, such a distance away that she'd forgotten just how long she'd travelled.

But Atem had calmed down and that was the good part. So I just listened calmly until my eyes began to droop. Then I heard her whisper something that I actually did understand.

"I can feel them. They're coming," Atem's voice was ragged from her screams, but her message was clear enough. Something was about to happen. What, I didn't know, but it would be on us soon.

* * *

><p>Atem said that didn't remember any of what had happened to her that night, which as something Tupit seemed far too relieved by. But that wasn't my greatest concern at the moment. Instead, I kept a steady eye on the horizon, in case the mysterious 'them' that Atem had mentioned in her moments of insanity.<p>

But for almost a week, there was no movement. I couldn't sense anything beyond my sight and the winter was fast approaching. I'd put off my decision for long enough – if I waited any longer, the water would freeze and Atem would no longer be trapped by the sea, able to walk across the ice flows and on to the rest of the world.

But I still didn't know what to do: to leave or stay. And now there was an extra element: if I left and the mysterious 'them' showed up, then would Tupit be enough to defend out home? Should I stay for their safety?

I sat at the outside border of the tents, watching the sun set – feeling the earth beneath my feet turn and rotate around that burning ball of flame, thinking about how it was probably huge. I thought about the moon, coming up with ways to test my theory about it controlling the waves of the ocean through its pull.

I felt Tupit before I heard him approaching. He sat down beside me, knees curled up to his chin.

"You should go," he said softly, eyes sad and hidden behind his dark hair. I glanced over at him, questioningly.

"You should go with her – Atem," he continued. "I think it would be for the best."

"Tupit…" I breathed, "I promised you that I'd stay. I promised I'd be by your side when you became chief. I can't just abandon you."

He snorted, but there was no anger or harshness to it, "Do you know why our fathers no longer get along?"

I frowned, not really knowing where this was going. But I was curious, so I answered that I didn't.

"My father loves my mother. He loves her so damn much, but…she's not the only one that he loves. He also...he also loves your mother," Tupit admitted.

I blinked, surprised. Chief Ignirtoq was in love with my mother? Could I, had circumstances been different, have been in Tupit's position as heir? But no, that title would have gone to my brother, as he was the eldest.

"At one point, my father suggested swapping wives, like Krermertok's parents did Anyu and her husband after he was born. But both of your parents didn't like that and then one thing led to another and…well, you can see the result today," he shrugged. "Like father, like son, I guess."

I frowned. What is that last bit mean?

"But what I really want to say is… I think that Atem's sky snake was right about who we are. I'm the King and you - you're the Thief," Tupit looked at me and his eyes were incredibly sad, but accepting. "Thieves aren't tied down by things like duty and obligation. They do what they want, go where they want. And that's you, Bakura. That's always been you. You are destined for something that out there," he pointed to where the sun was setting on the horizon. "And me, well, I'm the King. And as King, I am tied to duty, to this place – and that's fine. But you aren't, so don't stay here any longer. You're meant for much bigger things than this place."

He gripped my shoulder, staring at me in a way that made me incredibly nervous. And then he smiled, "Just…don't forget me, alright? Name your first kid after me or something. I know who I'll be naming mine after. A second Bakura: that'll be a shock to everyone, after what everyone was saying about it being a bear's name."

He pulled me into a hug, strong arms wrapping around my shoulder. I gripped him back, just as tightly; "You are more a brother to me than my own flesh and blood."

I felt him tense, but heard him answer, "I know."

That night, I walked into Atem's tent, bag in hand and said, "I'm made my decision. I'm coming with you."

She glanced up and, after a moment's hesitation, smiled.

"Get some rest. We leave at dawn."

* * *

><p>The tents of the village had just passed out of side when I felt it, a mass flare of Tongok being released. Atem whipped around, eyes wide as she screamed, "No!"<p>

As fast as the wind, we flew back to the tribe, hoping to make it in time. But when we got there, it was burning.

The screams of the very people I grew up with filled the air and smoke choked my lungs, making it impossible to breathe. I floundered in the ill air before gathering up my power, pulling that which was clean and breathable towards me and that which wasn't away.

And there were men – terrible and frightening men, unfamiliar men – in amongst the tents. They walked into them, almost systematically, pulling out the men. I watched, rooted to the ground with fear, as one family was dragged out and the father and son's throats were slashed. Blood splattered against the tent siding as the men grinned terribly. Then he went back inside and all I could hear were the screams of the women inside.

Atem leaped into action beside me, drawing her bow and ripped down the tent's sidings. I snapped back to reality and rushed through the burning remnants of my home. As one of those horrible men turned the corner, I spun my spear, twisting the air in front of it and blasting him into the sky with a jet of wind.

I ragged, spearing unfamiliar faces with shards of earth. I roared, sending lightning from the clouds above to strike at those who opposed me. I turned blood to ice, I changed the course of the flames, I transformed a living man into a hideous corpse. I danced in the death of my enemy and not for a single second did I stop.

Until I saw him: Ipiktok. My brother. With his knife through Tupit's chest.

I froze, not understanding what was in front of me. No. No. This wasn't happening. Tupit wasn't dying – dead. Ipiktok couldn't have killed him. No. No-no-no-no-no!

Ipiktok turned and looked at me as Tupit fell to the ground. He smirked, fingering a green stone that hung on a leather strap around his neck. And then he laughed.

"So this is how it is," my brother smiled, stepping back from where Tupit lay. "Oh, him? He put up a good fight and all." Ipiktok nodded to where several burned bodies lay off to the side, "But in the end, he just wasn't expecting me."

I felt sick, "You…you – you… How? Why? Why, Ipiktok? Why did you…? How did you…?"

He appeared in front of me, far faster than someone who didn't have Torngak should have been able to move, "What is it with you and your stupid questions, little brother? You can never just shut up and accept something. Its always 'why, why, why'. That's all you've ever said."

He threw me backwards and I slammed into one of the polls used to keep a tent upright. Once again, Ipiktok's cruel laughter filled my ears.

"And they just can't get enough of you! It was Angakok this and Torngak that. You could control the ancestors on a whim! With that kind of power, I'd have led raids and destroyed the other tribes – taken their food, their women, as my own to do as I pleased! And what did you do?!" He gasped, "You made them change colour! Because you thought they were pretty! Pathetic fools like you don't deserve to be Angakok. But I do."

He held up the stone, "You see this. This shows me the truth. This is what power really is, little brother. The Orichalcos. This is what will allow me to strip you and this pathetic nuk of your ill-gotten power."

"You killed him," I gasped, still staring at Tupit's fallen form. "You killed…you killed him… I'LL KILL YOU!"

I slammed my hand to the ground, sending my Torngak into the earth. The ground cracked in the massive circle around Ipiktok. I forced air into those cracks, making the earth rise up in a massive chunk, taking my brother with it. Once it was high enough, I flipped it over and released my hold on it, making the piece of earth plummet to the ground and smashing whatever lay beneath it to bits.

I dropped to my knees, breathing heavily. I thought that it was over.

"You think that could stop me," my heart stopped and then a foot slammed into my side, sending me sprawling. I came to a halt before another tent opening. Inside of it, I saw a pair of eyes. It was Krermertok.

"Distract him," he whispered before sneaking out of the tent through a whole in the back.

I swallowed hard, turning my focus back to Ipiktok, "You…that thing you have. What is it?"

"Again with the stupid questions," he snarled. "Why don't you ask your bitch? Didn't she tell you anything?"

Atem knew? She knew about this, what this was? Why? Why didn't she ever tell me?

"She didn't, did she? Oh, poor little bear-cub. Looks like she doesn't love you after all. Then again, the bitch probably wouldn't even look at a scrap like you. She needs a real man," Ipiktok smirked. "Maybe I'll show her one when I'm done with you."

And then he turned, hand reaching out and grabbing Krermertok (who'd been sneaking up behind him with a knife of his own) and shoving his hand through his chest. The boy choked, blood running from his mouth as Ipiktok wrenched his still beating heart from his body. It was still connected to him, frantically pumping blood into stretched veins.

"Let me show you what I can do now, with the power given to my by the Orichalcos. Let me show you the power of my ancestors," Ipiktok grinned and yanked.

Krermertok fell to his knees and then toppled to the ground. Just before he bled out, his mouthed to me, "Don't let him win."

I gripped my spear. No more, I swore. No more death.

"Do you want to know how mother and father died? I killed father first – made sure mother watched. Cut his throat in front of her. I lost track of how many times I stabbed mother, though."

No more carnage.

"Then I went to Anyu and I broke both of the old witch's legs before beat her to death with uncle's club. And then, just after I finished with her, that stupid nuk , Tupit walked in. And…well, you saw how that ended."

_No more Ipiktok._

I sent my Torngak into the sky, calling on the worst storm I could imagine. I created warm air, making it rise and forcing the cold air down. I repeated the cycle, over and over again, faster and faster. And we were close enough to a massive source of water, the very ocean that would freeze over soon, to pull off what I wanted.

The clouds churned around me and in the sky, the winds blowing faster than ever. Ipiktok tried to yell over the sound, but he was drowned out in my anger. He hung on to one of the polls nearby for dear life. Water began to fall from the sky, soaking my clothing in its torrential downpour. My hair whipped around in front of my face as Ipiktok's feet left the ground and he was lefts clinging to the poll.

I felt Atem behind me, watching with awe at what I was doing. She didn't dare stop me – even if she wanted to, I wouldn't have let her. I had to do this. This monster had destroyed everything that I'd loved. He deserved to die for what he did.

I let the wind carry me upwards, lightning striking around me. Ipiktok finally lost his grip and spiraled through the air uncontrollably. I streamlined the path he followed, making it take him over the ocean. I blasted him up, high into the air, as I rocketed beneath him. And then just like the rock, I let him fall.

Releasing my grip on the storm, I kept myself afloat and waited for him to reach my height. I let our eyes connect one last time and whispered, "Goodbye, brother."

Then I raised my arms and the water beneath me shot up, freezing as it did, and impaled him mid fall. The strap that the green stone hung from snapped and the thing, covered in Ipiktok's blood, fell into the ocean.

* * *

><p>Tupit's body had been swept away in my storm. Atem held me as I wept for him, for all those who'd died today. She whispered words in her language and even though I couldn't understand them, I felt their meaning. She was apologizing.<p>

I had to get away from this place, though. The presence that surrounded it was suffocating. I couldn't breathe, so we walked, hand in hand, towards the north. We walked until our feet were raw and the sun began to dip below the horizon. I remembered that, just a day ago, Tupit had sat next to me and watched as it had done the same thing. And now he was dead. Everyone was dead.

Atem set up camp. I just sat down, covering my face in my hands. She tried to cokes me into eating some of the dried meat she'd packed, but I felt too sick to swallow anything.

"You need your strength," she said, hand resting gently on my shoulder. "Please, Bakura –"

"Don't!" I yelled, "Don't call me that."

I felt her hand leave, before I heard her sighing, "Then what would you like me to call you."

And I thought of Tupit. I remembered that damned stone and what it could do. And I vowed to hunt down anyone who dared wear it around their neck.

I recalled my last discussion with him and the promise that I'd made to him. I was to remember him, in any way I could. And I knew just the way.

I'd live for him, live in his place. I would be myself, but I would also be him. I'd go where I pleased, but be tied to a duty. One single duty. To avenge him.

"Don't call me Bakura. That is no longer my name," I growled, looking up at Atem with eyes of blood. "I am Thief King."

_"The caribou feeds the wolf, but it is the wolf who keeps the caribou strong."  
>- Inuit Proverb<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Hello guys!<strong>

**I'd like to thank ilovemanicures for her lovely review on the last chapter. You are epic as always, my dear.**

**Yes, I know I'm terrible. But this was how it was always going to go down. Thief King was far too soft to just go off and _hunt down and kill_ users of the Orichalcos on his own unless something big happened to him. The betrayal of Ipiktok, the murder of Tupit and his family, as well as the complete destruction of (literally) everything he's ever known is what would do that to him.  
><strong>

**Before I go, though, I think I need to go into a few things that I've learned about Inuit culture so that you can understand some of the things brought up in the chapter. Marriage, to these people, was something that was arranged in order for a next generation to be produced. In cultures where they live in extreme temperatures, procreation is right up there on the survival list with food collection and shelter. Marriage was between a man and a woman, no exceptions. Polygamy was rare, but not unheard of. Sometimes a man would take on multiple wives, but never a woman taking on multiple husbands. But this didn't happen a lot, which is why I didn't include it.**

**Tupit brings up something called 'wife swapping' and it is exactly what it sounds like. Husbands, with their wives permission, would swap wives for a season before returning back to their original pairings. Sometimes this would produce children, other times, not so much. But the thing is, if the wives didn't agree to it, then it _would not happen_. Native American cultures are generally matriarchal and the only reason why Thief King's tribe didn't have a female leader is because the Chief's mother had died previously and had no female heirs. If Tupit had a daughter, she'd have taken over when she became of age.**

**Basically, Thief King's mom didn't agree to the whole wife swap thing, even though Ignirtoq kept pushing it because he wanted to have her as his wife, even if it was just for a season (not that he didn't love his own wife - he loved them both equally, at the same time). This caused a falling out between the two couples.**

**As for Tupit, he fell into the same trap of wanting two different people at the same time. He likes _both_ Atem and Thief King, but this is even worse for him. Unlike many of the southern tribes, the Inuits are incredibly against homosexuality (due to their need to procreate in order to survive, and that's not happening with two men or two women in a relationship). The term Ipiktok uses (nuk) is a derogatory term for a homosexual in the Inuit language. In the previous chapter, he felt the need to choose between the two and chose Atem because she was his only real option. At the same time, he wants Thief King even though he can't have him - not just because the guy isn't into men, but because Chief Ignirtoq would disapprove greatly if he even suggested it.**

**Hopefully that clears everything up. If you still have any questions, feel free to ask them. I answer them the best I can.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	5. Thief King Bakura: Fifth Phase

**The Spirits: Resurrection**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo and 4Kids Entertainment. The following historical account is ninety percent fact and ten percent unavoidable estimation.

**Warning: **Contains Devourshipping (The Others!Thief King Bakura x Atem), sexual situations, nudity, and talk of religious ideology

* * *

><p><strong>Thief King Bakura: Fifth Phase<strong>

_"Unless you're the lead dog, the view is pretty much the same."  
>- Inuit Proverb<em>

The wind blew harsh and cold, the snow whipping around us so fast and so thick that it blocked out the sun. Atem and I struggled through the deep drifts, not even the powers of my Tongok able to keep up with the strength of nature. At some points, the snow went up to our waists, making it nearly impossible to move.

I'd heard of these storms before, but had never experienced them for myself. They were known to bury entire villages in a single night, leaving nothing to even suggest that they'd ever been there. I tightened the collar of my parka, trying to keep the cold from freezing me to death. There were icicles on my lashes and I couldn't feel my nose.

Atem wasn't fairing much better. After we'd crossed onto the mainland (and who would have guessed that, my entire life, I'd been living on a small, spit of land surrounded by open water) several months ago, she'd come down with yet another illness that had stalled our trip by almost a month. She'd spent the nights coughing up phlegm from her lungs and had a fever that I was convinced would melt the snow around her. It got even worse when I cause the damned disease, though I was lucky enough not to get it as bad as she did. I was still able to travel.

But that had been a long while ago and now we were here, trudging hand-in-hand through the thick, blinding blanket of flying snow. I didn't dare let go of her, scared that if I did, I'd lose her and never see her again. Those gloved fingers that intertwined with my own were all that was left of my sanity in this instead in time.

"We have to find shelter," I cried out, amplifying and redirecting the waves my voice made in the air and sending them directly into her ear. She squeezed my hand in response.

I felt her power ebb out into the earth, searching desperately for anything that we could use to block out this terrible storm for the night. Atem tugged at my hand, making me turn to the left. The wind continued to rage on the skin on my face and I continued to move through the snow.

What felt like years later, I saw the outline of a tall structure of rock. While there was no opening, I was able to feel that there was a large opening just inside. I placed my palm on the rock and made it move out into itself. We rushed inside and I pulled the rock behind us to keep the cold out, but kept enough of it open so that we didn't suffocate.

Atem held up an arm and it burst into flame. The light flickered against the walls and illuminated the room. Instead of taking fire directly from my Tongok, I rubbed a pair of rocks together until something sparked and I amplified it. Eventually I held a continuously burning ball of flames in my hand, letting it feed off of a special bit of existence in the air.

"I'm going to have a look around and see if there's anything we can use for food," she stated, eyes looking off into the darkness.

"Right. I'll set up camp," it almost seemed to be a routine. We'd done the same almost every night.

I listened to her footfalls against the stone floor of the cave as she moved off. I moved rocks into place, heating them up with the fire in my hand until they started to glow. I sat back and waited for her return.

A mouse, small and skinny and attracted to the light, skittered over the rocks. My lips pressed together as I steeled myself. Pressing my palm to the ground, I used my power to shift the ground beneath it into a skewer, stabbing it through the belly. It squealed once, twitching and struggling before suddenly going still.

I remembered a different body that had done the same thing not so long ago. But this mouse wasn't Ipiktok. It was dinner.

Using the edge of my spear, I skinned the poor beast before sticking it over the flame to cook. After it was done, I removed the meat from the bones and put it in a bowl I'd managed to salvage from the remains of my tribe. It had been Anya's, my frail old aunt whom had been beaten to death by my traitor brother.

"Hey!" Atem's voice echoed throughout the chamber, "I found something. Come have a look!"

I blinked, before sparking a flame into existence once more and then answering, "Alright!"

I found her a few moments later holding her hand up to the wall. There were a series of odd patterns in the rock. It took me a few seconds and a quick examination with my Tongok to realize what they were.

"Bones? How are they in the walls?" I asked.

"Have I ever told you the story of The Battle of Mu?" She looked at me out of the corner of her eye. Her hair was escaping its tight braid, falling in front of her face. I felt the odd urge to brush it out of her eyes.

"No," I answered.

"Once, long before humans truly walked the world as we do today, there was another people. We called them the Ancients," Atem's eyes turned hard for a moment as that name slipped out from between her lips, before she continuing onwards. "They lived far away in a land that no longer exists. It was called Mu and, supposedly, it was paradise. I somehow doubt it, though."

She laughed then, but it was dry and humourless, "The humans that did live there we treated like dirt because the Ancients, like the fools they were, believed themselves to be superior. But over time, we began to outnumber them in their cities."

"The Ancients weren't happy about that, were they?" I snorted.

"Not at all. Their King decided to secretly create a weapon in order to kill them all. That weapon was the Orichalcos."

I swallowed hard, remembering the green stone that hung around my brother's neck when I killed him.

"The humans rebelled. They fought and won the war against the Ancients, though they experienced their own losses – both amongst themselves and their allies," she nodded towards the bones in the wall. "That skeleton once belonged to a Summon creature."

My eyes widened and I reached out again to touch it. The skeleton was shaped like a creature I'd never seen before. It looked like one of Atem's sky-snakes, but at the same time, not at all.

"What happened during that battle? How did it end?" I asked.

"Mu fell. Their weapon turned against them in the final moments and the land disappeared into the sea," she shrugged, uncaring. "The surviving Ancients were spared and given territory in a distant land to call their own. But now they are spread so few that they might not exist at all."

"And the Orichalcos?"

"Hidden away, until it was released again," she looked at me sadly before turning back to the bones of the fallen Summon.

"How was it released?" I asked.

"A…a massacre took place. There was blood everywhere," Atem's voice cracked. "And it all went towards that damned stone."

My teeth ground together and there was a foul taste in my mouth, "Why didn't you tell about that thing before?"

"Bakura –"

"_Don't call me that_," I hissed.

She hesitated, but then spoke, "Thief King, I…I was going to. That night that we first set out, I swear to you, I was going to tell you then."

"Well, it wouldn't have helped! Even if you did tell me, my family still would have _died_," I snapped at her. She closed her eyes and refused to look at me. I almost wanted to pry them open, "They _waited_ until you were gone before they struck. How long have they been chasing you? Did you come to my home knowing that they would come after you?"

"_They _are not chasing _me_. I am hunting them," she growled, eyes suddenly open and flashing like the fire in her hand.

"And you're doing an amazing job at that," I spat. "What? What do we do? What have we done since leaving the burning remains of my family?! We go to a few villages. We _talk_. We freeze a few stones and then we move on. You think that's hunting?! That's not hunting – that's cowardice!"

"And what would you do _instead_?! Kill everyone – anyone who ever touched that damned stone? Damn it, I'm trying to help these people! I'm trying to cure their sickness!"

"They are not _sick_! They are the disease," I hissed at her.

"Why are you saying this? This is not you. This is not who you are," Atem touched my face with one hand.

"No. This is what Ipiktok make me to be. This is what Tupit drives me to be. I'm a child anymore," I yelled.

"You think that Tupit would have wanted to see you like this?" She sounded on the verge of tears.

"He was my brother and he was taken from me. It is my duty to avenge him –"

"He never saw you as a brother!" Atem shouted. I almost blasted her backwards but then she continued, "He was in love with you!"

I stopped breathing, "W-what?"

"He loved you - more than anything. Do you think that _this_ is how he'd want to see you?"

"N-no, he didn't. Tupit loved _you_. He wanted to marry _you_, not me," I tried to make her understand. I didn't know why it tugged at my heart the way it did, the idea that Tupit loved Atem.

"Yes, he did. He did love me. But loved you as well," she smiled sadly. "He wanted to marry the both of us."

I shock my head, "But…but he couldn't. Why would he…? I can't have children." Why else would he want to marry me? Marriage was for the purpose of children. Then the though struck me, "Can I?"

"No! You're a man. Men can't bare children," Atem blinked, then looked at me rather confused. "Ba…Thief King, you do know how babies are made, right?"

"Of course I do!" I snapped, face red as my eyes, "I know about sex!"

Well, sort of. I'd over heard Ipiktok talking once with a girl a few tents down about it and how they were 'risking' her getting pregnant by having sex. So I did know about it. I just didn't know what the act entailed.

"Just checking…" she continued to look at me oddly.

"Well, if I can't have kids then why would he want to marry me in the first place?" I changed the topic, away from this conversation where I was beginning to fell rather embarrassed.

"Because he wanted to be with you, just as he wanted to be with me. But because he couldn't have one without the other, Tupit gave us both up," Atem sighed. "He wanted us to be happy. Are you happy with this path, Thief King?"

I couldn't look her in the eye, "I'm not concerned with happiness now."

"Then what?" She asked.

"Making things right again," I said, stepping away from her and moving back towards the front of the cave. She called after me.

"All the revenge in the world will not bring your family back to you. The gods know that I've tried. Years of trying and all I've got back were cruel memories and crueler shadows of memories."

I stopped, snorting, "Do you know why that is?"

"No. Do you?" Atem looked at me with eyes that were far too old.

"Because the gods you pray to…they don't exist," I told her before being swallowed by the darkness.

* * *

><p>We liked to pretend that parts of that conversation never happened. We were both smiles and pleasant words the next morning and none of the doom and gloom of the night before presided around us. We left the cave with the Summon's bones as the world spun in just the right way to give the appearance that it was travelling across the sky.<p>

But by the next morning, I was full of questions again.

"Let me get this straight: Tupit wanted to marry me? But why? How? I've never seen two men get married before," I frowned.

"From what he explained to me, in your culture, marriage is between a man and a woman. Anything other then that is seen as being…unethical," she explained.

"But is it?"

"I don't consider it to be," Atem shrugged.

"Why?"

"Because of where I was born, I guess. Because of what I've seen. In some places, in the south, men can take other men as husbands. Women can take other women as wives. These marriages are seen as sacred," she looked back at me, a smile tugging on her lips.

"What about where you're from?" I asked.

"It isn't acceptable for marriage, but I saw many a man take boys to their beds. The same with some of the women. It all depended on what you liked, I guess."

"What do you mean?"

"Some men like other men. Some women like other women. Some people like both. Sometimes at the same time, like Tupit," she turned and began to walk backwards so that we were facing one another.

I paused for a moment, before asking, "Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Do you…like other women?"

She stopped walking and I bumped into her. We fell to the ground in a pile of limbs, myself on top of her. My hair fell around us and I wondered what it would be like to taste her skin. She'd licked my own once, so it only seemed fair that I be able to discover what hers was like.

I wondered what was wrong with me.

"Ow…" Atem moaned and I realized that I'd planted my knee right in her stomach. I scrambled off of her and helped her to her feet.

"Sorry," I apologized.

She laughed, "It's fine. You just took me by surprise, that's all. It's not something I'm usually asked."

"Oh. Uh, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Atem pinked a bit around her cheekbones, "I won't deny that I have…thought about it. But have I been with another woman – no. I haven't."

"Oh," I rubbed the back of my neck, with was suspiciously warm for some reason. We continued to walk, but I had trouble keeping my eyes forward. Finally, I said what was bothering me, "Am I doing something wrong?"

"What do you mean?" She glanced over to me.

"Well, Tupit liked men and women. You like men and women. But I don't, you know? It's only ever really been girls with me," I bit my lip. "Am I doing something wrong by _not_ liking other men?"

"What? No! That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. Thief King, just because some people like both or the same doesn't mean that liking different is bad," she chuckled. The light from the sun bounced off of the snow and lit up her face. I liked how it made her look.

"Oh. Okay," I smiled softly to myself. "But then why is being a nuk bad, if its alright to like the same?"

"Because, for some people, the idea of different kinds of sex scares them. It's the sad truth, but it is the reality of the world. We're only human – we have a habit of fearing what we don't understand," she looked up at me, smiling.

"That's stupid. We should be trying to learned from the unknown, not fearing it," I frowned.

"Yes, well, not everyone is as smart as you are," she nudged me in the arm before breaking out into a run. I laughed, chasing after her. We raced towards the rising sun like nothing was holding us back.

And in that tiny moment of happiness, nothing was. Too bad that moment ended.

* * *

><p>I sat amongst the ruins of the small village and picked the splattered remains of a man's brain off the sleeve of my parka.<p>

"Are you completely insane?!" Atem screamed, "They didn't need to die! Only some had stones, you idiot, not all! You didn't need to come back and kill them!"

"They were still addicted, Atem," I glowered at her. "Just because you took away their supply doesn't mean that they won't be able to get some more and become just as deadly as they were before. I'm doing the world a favour."

"A favour?! You call this a favour?! This isn't right, Ba-"

"_That isn't my name!_"

"It's what your mother named you," she spat.

"And you're not my mother! My mother died when my brother stabbed her through the heart," I yelled right back.

"Thief King, then!" She threw her hands up in frustration, "This isn't what you're supposed to be. This isn't who you are."

"And what would you know of who I am," I growled.

"More then you know. More then you will ever know. And that is how I know that _this isn't you_!"

Atem stomped off, back to where we had camped the night previous. I stayed here for a little while longer, surrounded by the charred corpses of the people that I'd rained fire down on from the skies. I remembered my family and how this had happened to them because I was too late to stop it. I remembered how it was people like those living in this little conglomeration of igloos had been responsible.

It was only fitting that they'd die in the same fashion as my family.

By the time I returned to camp, it was already dark. Atem sat in front of the fire, staring into their flames with dead eyes. I sat beside her, noticing how she was slowly turning a stone knife in her hand. The red hilt caught my eye and _it_ surged within me, expressing a longing for this object like I'd never known before.

"I did what had to be done," I told her, voice flat.

She let out a long, controlled breath, "Damn you."

"For what?"

"For being like this."

"I am who I am," I told her. "Just because you have it in your head that I'm someone I'm not doesn't make me any less of myself."

She said nothing for a long while. And then she let out a dry chuckle, "It would figure that I would remember only the good parts and forget the darkness."

She didn't appear to be talking to me, but I spoke anyways, "Remember what?"

Atem turned to me, "You. Gods, who am I trying to kid? This is exactly like you."

There was a heat in her eyes, one that I'd only seen before on rare occasions. I felt _it_ draw me in, but to what I had no idea. But this time, instead of being afraid of what I did not understand, I decided to embrace _it_.

I let _it_ take me over, guide me in my actions. The hole in my self – not my body, not my 'soul', but in my very being – swallowed me and I moved forwards, cupping her face and bringing Atem's lips to mine.

She was surprised at first, but seemed to melt into me in a way that set my veins on fire. Atem's hand weaved into my hair as she climbed onto my lap and moved her lips against mine like she was starving for me.

Time seemed to speed up and slow down. Without having realized it, I'd stripped her of her coat, but the feel of my hands dragging themselves down the curve of her spine seemed to fill an eternity. I could hear the pounding of my own heart, feel the blood rushing through my body. A heat burned between my legs and Atem seemed to notice, so she rocked her hips and set a cry flying from my mouth.

I pulled back and looked at her. There, on her face, was an expression I'd never seen before. Her face was flushed, her eyes wide, her lips parted. Something awoke from within me and I wanted nothing more then to _devour_ her.

And apparently, Atem had the same idea. She pushed me backwards and sent me sprawling to the ground. Climbing on top of me, Atem bit and licked and sucked at my neck. My hands grew bolder as they inched beneath the leather of her shirt and felt the skin underneath. I remembered the last time I'd seen that part of her. I'd been just a boy then, all questions and no answers. She'd given me answers – not all of the ones that I'd wanted, mind you, but answers nonetheless.

Atem tugged at my own shirt and I moved so that she could remove it. Even in the biting cold, it seemed far too warm to wear it. In a moment of clarity, I quickly erected a hut of earth and snow over our heads so that we wouldn't freeze to death. Her hands slid over my chest, making me jump on certain occasions when they trailed low on my stomach. I sat up after one final pass and pulled her shirt over her head.

My mouth seemed drawn to her skin, so I let it. Tongue trailing over the curve of her breasts as my fingers danced around the dip on one side of her hips, Atem moaned and hissed encouragement. Once or twice, she slipped into her own language and called me things that I didn't understand. But she continued to call me by the name my family gave me.

Bakura.

This time, though, I didn't care. Because tonight was it. Tonight, I'd be her Bakura. In the morning, Thief King would walk away from her and never return to her arms. But tonight, Bakura would take his last breaths.

And he'd take them with her.

Eventually, all clothing disappeared into a corner of the makeshift room that I didn't care to investigate. The part of me that normally hung between my legs stood tall and seemed to be the cause of my almost obsessive lust for Atem's skin. She pushed me down once more and bent over me.

"Bakura…is this what you want?" She breathed in my ear, eyes imploring when she looked up.

I didn't answer, just gave her a little smile and pulled her lips back over mine, reveling in the sensation of them slipping over mine. Atem pulled back for breath and sat up. She planted her knees on the earth beneath the two of us, one on either side of my waist.

I blinked, confused at what she was doing before my eyes flew wide open as my hands gripped the dirt for something to hold onto. Atem held onto the organ between my legs and kept it pointed upwards as she lowered herself onto it. I remembered, faintly, discovering the slit that resided between her _own_ legs and realized that she was ever so slowly guiding me inside her own body.

I nearly panicked, terrified that this was going to hurt her, but Atem pressed a palm against my chest, over my heart, and used it to balance herself as she sunk the rest of the way down.

I lay there in stunned silence as I watched her above me. My toes curled in the dirt as I tried to become accustomed to the idea of being inside her, let alone what it felt like. Atem's warmth surrounded me, the walls of whatever part I was inside clenching rhythmically around me. She sat up there for a while, her brow furrowed in concentration, and I reached up to touch her.

My hand rested just under her navel, pressing down softly and realizing that I could feel myself on the other side of her skin. The very thought of it almost made me come completely undone.

And then she started to move. Every part of me seemed to be hypersensitive with the jolts of lightning that ran through my body. My hands moved at their own accord, touching and feeling any bit of Atem's skin that they could get their hands on. She panted above me, eyes locked on my own, words that I didn't know slipping from her mouth.

I sat up suddenly, fingers leaving marks on her hips as I gripped them. I moved her with my arms, nipping at her mouth with my own. I gasped for breath and rested my forehead against her's as Atem continued to buck on top of me, becoming more and more erratic as time pasted.

Something changed in me then, watching her above me. I saw Atem there with eyes that were normally so ancient, come alive with an emotion that could only be described as _pain_ and I knew that this was whom she truly was inside. And there I was, sitting there and so hopelessly in love that I would never be able to see another woman like I did her ever again.

But this was it. It was only this night. Bakura would die tonight and he would take that love with him.

So when I erupted from the inside out, biting back a growl as Atem howled her sadness to the wind, Bakura was given one last moment with her. It was he would lay beside her that night, naked as the day he was born. It was he who cried and screamed at the unjustness of the world. It was he who fell asleep next to her, tears still drying on his cheeks.

But it wasn't Bakura who woke up in the morning.

The Thief King did.

I was quiet as I slipped out of Atem's embrace. I was silent as I found and pulled on my clothing. I was not but a whisper as I eyed the knife that I'd seen her carrying the night previous before deciding to take it with me.

I left the tent without saying a word of goodbye and out into the blinking sun.

I remembered what the chief mother of the now-dead tribe had said. She'd spoken of a strange man who was not a man, who had one eye gold and the other a sickly green, that lived in the north. He'd been the one to give them the stones. He'd been the one to start everything.

I'd find that man. I'd kill that man. And while it may never bring me happiness, it may never bring my family back to me, and Tupit would stay dead forever more, it would give me peace.

I coiled the air around me and shot off into the sky. The north was where I'd find this man who was not a man. And in the north he would die.

_"Even the strongest eagle cannot soar higher then the clouds."  
>- Inuit Proverb<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys!<strong>

**So Thief King's more then likely going to die in the next chapter. But he's going to go out pretty epically. Of all the spirits, I consider him the one who came second-closest to ending the war (the number one spot goes to Dark God, how nearly blew up the Horseman in his final moments). But Thief King is more of a traditional 'wizard' archetype for battle, so he uses a lot of long distance, area attacks and they can do a tonne of damage to people. The Horseman may escape, but it is a narrow escape.**

**On the other hand, I'd like to announce what I consider to be the canon pairing name of Thief King and Atem for The Others: Devourshipping. It comes from Nekura Ryu's suggestion. Thank you so much for the name!**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	6. Thief King Bakura: Sixth Phase

**The Spirits: Resurrection**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo and 4Kids Entertainment. The following historical account is ninety percent fact and ten percent unavoidable estimation.

* * *

><p><strong>Thief King Bakura: Sixth Phase<strong>

"_It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good."  
>- Inuit Proverb<em>

The north was colder then I was used to and much harder to direct then when I'd had a partner to help. But I brushed that thought aside, knowing full well that thinking back to her – the Lady Warrior who still haunted my dreams – would only lead to my own defeat.

It had been so long since I'd seen her last, though. I still remembered the taste of her in my mouth, the feel of her skin against mine. But that was another life – one filled with a family that had yet to be destroyed and a brother who had yet to betray me and a comrade in arms would loved me with his entire being. That life was gone now. All that matter was the path ahead.

The Lady Warrior could not hold me back any longer. I had a duty to fulfill to Tupit.

The North Star and the sun guided me as I travelled towards my destination. When I could, I would stay the night in the company of other tribes and listen to their whispers of the man who was not a man that lived in the stone huts in the north. I heard about how he was surrounded by strange men who were men, but had hair that had never been seen before.

But on the occasion that those stories turned into enticements towards the Orichalcos Stone, I hardened myself into the Thief King – a man who was willing to do whatever it took to avenge Tupit. I lashed out with wind and ice and snow, burying them and their precious rock in my wake. When the morning sun broke on the horizon, I'd take to the path again, ever travelling north.

Once the summer season began again, I found myself travelling on a coastline on some kind of inlet. On clear days, I could almost see across to the other side were another shore resided. I wondered how many would be able to one day visit that side. I wondered if it would be on a mission of vengeance or if I would simply be travelling.

It didn't matter. All that the coastline meant to be now was that I could use it as a guide towards my destination and that I now had a constant source of food. I spent my evenings catching fish and removing their scales with my stolen knife.

I fought a bear once. Its fur was as dark as night. I remembered the jeers of my childhood, comparing me to this beast. I wondered now, now as its powerful jaws roared and it stood up on its hind legs, why that had been an insult. To be related to such a thing would not be terrible, but wonderful instead.

It didn't stop me from killing it for its meat and skin, a single streak of lightning from the sky striking it dead. I ate richly that night and dried the rest. I fashioned myself a coat out of its fur. I carved a small nothing, a simple face, out of a vertebrae, on a whim and kept it with me. I left the rest of the bones to become part of the earth once more, like that skeleton in the cave. I could only carry so much, after all.

I tried to forget the cave, but couldn't – not truly anyways.

Eventually, the coastline started to turn east and the stories of the man who wasn't a man began to tell me to follow it as well. I felt the wind begin to change, becoming thicker with ash and smoke of a thousand fires.

And I knew I was close.

* * *

><p>I'd never seen this much wood before in my entire life. I gripped the staff of my spear, remembering just how lucky I'd been just to find this piece. But the man who was not a man had found hundred of thick, round logs and had sharpened them at the top to make a point. There was a spot near the sea where it opened up and let the water in. I smirked. There was my entrance.<p>

Using the black smoke that billowed from inside the log-walls as my cover, I dove into the cold water. I kept a bubble of air around my mouth so that I could breathe, taking the bits of usable air out of the water as I continued onwards. I kicked my way towards that entrance, nothing more than a shadow in the deep. Anyone who saw me probably mistook me for a lone seal that had been separated from its family and was in search of food.

They would never see me coming.

I surfaced underneath some kind of wooden construction that went over a stream. I heard people passing over top of it, their heavy foot falls slamming against the structure. It was a path, I reasoned. Were these people so afraid of the chill of the water that they refused to swim through it? I dismissed the question from my minds and focused myself on my duty.

Inside there were more things made of wood. I wondered just where the man who was not a man had found all of this. Had it all come from the south, where the Lady Warrior hailed from? She'd once mentioned something called farming. Could that be how such things were grown in these quantities?

But these structures were large, rectangular things with smoke coming out of the top. Hole were cut into the sides for people to look out of – and what an unnatural people they were. Large, bulky behemoths with bright red hair covering their entire faces. Their clothing was odd, too. It was made of a dark fabric I'd never seen before.

And their weapons! They felt wrong when I examined them with my Tongak. They were like earth, but not earth at the same time. It was like they'd taken a piece of it and transformed it into a material that was harder then bone. I saw some of the men wearing pieces of it like clothing. I swallowed hard, wondering if I'd be able to pierce it.

There were women living amongst the men. They tended to the children, cooked the meals, and mended the clothing. I saw one of the girls, no older then myself, with her belly full of child. There was a little boy clinging to her leg, speaking in a strange language. He was small with her dark hair but with another man's eyes. Around his neck hung an Orichalcos stone.

Rage sparked within me. Children were becoming part of the disease now?! Did the man who was not a man's depravity know no bounds?

I watched I sick horror as the woman bent down and fished another stone out of her pocket, handing it to the boy. He giggled, holding it in his palm for a moment before slipping it into the sleeve of his coat.

There was a shout from behind me and I turned just in time to see one of the men with the red facial hair come barreling towards me, swinging an axe made of the same odd earth-like material from before. I'd been spotted! Forgetting stealth in that instant, I called upon my Torngak and forced it into the water. It rose up and surrounded the man, holding him there until he drowned.

But while he may have been the first, he was not the last. A loud clanging filled the air as the men let loose battle cries and readied themselves for a fight. I steeled myself. Now was not a time to see children and mothers and soon-to-be mothers. These people hadn't seen those when they'd butchered my tribe. They would not gain mercy from me.

I shot up into the sky, giving myself some room to work my spell. I spun my spear around, generating the circular air current I needed while simultaneously creating an imbalance in warmth and cold, the clouds turned dark and funnels began to form. As they called upon their archers, I let them loose.

The chaotic air and clouds touched down on the earth, ripping up everything that it came into contact with. The animals that they seemed to be keeping – odd beasts with thin, spotted coats and small horns on their head – cried out in deep, throaty voices as they were flung into the sky and torn to shreds by the power of the wind. The men on the ground tried unsuccessfully to fire arrows at me, but those too where useless endeavors.

I added a spark to the monstrous air funnel of death and it ignited. Flame and terror rained down on them from the skies. I slashed my spear downwards, cutting it in two, dividing it so that more destruction would fall upon them. I almost smiled as the screams of frightened women and the cries of bawling infants met my ears.

And then it struck. Something crept into my mind and burned, destroying everything I had in motion. I cried out in pain as my flight failed and I was sent falling towards the sky. Only at the last second did I manage to slow my decent enough that my own momentum wouldn't smash me to pieces.

Contact with the earth still knock the wind from my lungs and I lay prone on the ground for a moment. One of the men who'd survived my assault started shouting what sounded like orders – and they were followed. I was surrounded in an instant as another red haired giant ran off into the distance.

I pressed a hand into the earth and sent a shockwave that knocked them all off of their feet. As I quickly rose to my feet, I tried to impale as many as I could with spikes of hardened dirt through their stomachs, hands, feet – whatever I could reach. But the pain in my skull came down upon me as second time and forced me back to my knees.

One of the red haired men, the one from before who was sounding the orders, had his hand extended and pointed towards me. He must have been the one keeping me down. I tried to do something, anything, to make him stop but I couldn't move my arms at all. It was like they were locked in position by some unknown force. I gritted my teeth and tried to fight it, but I couldn't break the control the man had over me.

The man who ran off came back, followed by a figure that was wrapped up in a cloak. The hood shadowed his entire face, but I could see his the glow of his eyes. One was gold, the other green.

The man who wasn't a man.

My hatred for him, the rage I felt ever since I saw Ipiktok shove a knife through Tupit's heart, overwhelmed the red headed man's control on me. I leapt up and amplified the subtle electrical current that ran through the air until lightning lanced from my fingertips and towards him.

The man who wasn't a man's eyes widened and raised his hand. A body, featureless and sexless, appeared in front of him. It took the blow, its blank eyes erupting as its skin bubbled and boiled. And then it fell to the ground as a brutalized lump of flesh.

The man who wasn't a man shouted something that the red headed man and the pain took hold on me once more. When I was sufficiently controlled, the man who wasn't a man stepped forwards, the bottom of his cloak picking up bits of snow and ash along the way. He gripped my hair and pulled my head backwards. I growled at him as he gasped in shock.

"Impossible," he whispered in a voice that sounded like the howling of wolves. "How? It was said to be impossible. Not ever that half-rate Abomination could manage this. How are you alive?!"

I spat in his eye. The man who wasn't a man cursed and released me, stumbling backwards. I forced myself to grip my fallen spear with both hands and thrust the tip towards him. It struck home, but there must have been some of that strange earth-like material under his cloak because the tip skidding right upon contact and only managed to tear the fabric.

The man who wasn't a man shouted more orders in the language of the red headed men. They gripped their strange weapons in front of them, ready for anything.

Lightning rained down from above striking the man who held me with his mind, but it wasn't mine. Free to move as I wished without struggle, I looked up. My eyes widened as a figure slammed into the earth, bow in hand and pointed it towards the man who wasn't a man, an arrow made purely of arcing current on the string.

"You will not touch him," she growled. My breath caught in my throat and the remnants of Bakura, a boy who should have died on the night where I last saw this woman, surfaced in my mind. But no, she was not some long lost love. This woman was the Lady Warrior – the name I'd given to that name and face that frequented my dreams at night. She was Atem no longer.

"Well, well. The Red Traveler has finally shown her face," the man who was not a man laughed cruelly and there was something that passed over the Lady Warrior's face that looked like familiarity. He continued to speak, "Is this your doing, girl? Loosing a freak like him on this town. They were doing nothing – harming no one."

"Back away from him," she repeated, voice lower and more dangerous then I'd ever heard before.

"I don't need to be defended," I lashed out at the Lady Warrior. "I had it under control."

"Thief King," she hissed in warning. The man who wasn't a man laughed.

"Oh? Trouble in paradise, Red Traveler? You have terrible taste in bed warmers. They should know better then to talk back," he sneered.

The Lady Warrior loosed her arrow and the man who wasn't a man pulled another featureless corpse out of nowhere. She threw herself forwards, hissing and spitting with anger and hate. I'd never seen her this focused on murder before. I wondered just what the man who wasn't a man had said that had set her off.

But the remnants of the red haired men and their small army were left, so I reached out and pulled the water towards me once more, forcing it down their throats and drowning them on dry land. As they chocked and fell to their knees, I slammed my spear into the ground, tearing it apart. The crack followed both the Lady Warrior and the man who wasn't a man, quickly gaining on them as they fought each other without heeding their surroundings.

The ground beneath them opened up and they both fell into the chasm. I heard the man who wasn't a man curse as he plummeted through the air and into the bottomless depths of the earth. I ran over to where they'd gone over the edge. The Lady Warrior hung by one hand on a protruding rock.

"Bakura!" Her face lit up when she saw me, "Please! Help!"

I reached out without thinking and clasped her free hand in mine, pulling her up. It was only when the Lady Warrior sat beside me on the edge of the newly formed cliff that I thought about what I'd done.

She was a weakness, a reminder of the boy I no longer was. Bakura was dead and only the Thief King was left. And the Thief King had no loyalties towards this woman.

I ignored that it was the Thief King who stared at the knife he stole from her every night with a longing I didn't want to admit was there.

"How'd you find me?" I asked.

"I never lost you," she answered, smiling in a way that she'd never done in the time before my family died. "I've been tracking you ever since you left."

"That was over a year ago," I breathed.

"I know," she hummed.

There was a moment of silence before I spoke again, "I should close this up."

The Lady Warrior grunted in response as I gently placed a hand on the earth, sending my Torngak to make it do my bidding. I started mending the crack at the bottom before slowly making my way up.

Just before I sealed it off, the man who wasn't a man rocketed up, cloak billowing out around him and eyes blazing with hatred. His legs were a mangled mess that was slowly popping back into place. Blood dripped down from under his clothes as something behind him kept him afloat in the air.

"You'll pay for this!" He cried out as he pointed towards us. Something large formed over our heads, like a gigantic hand, and began to fall towards us. The Lady Warrior grabbed my hand and dragged me with her away from a crushing death.

I sent a blast of wind towards the shape, hurling it back towards the man who wasn't a man. It faded into nothingness before it hit him, but he waved his hands again and suddenly we were surrounded by hundreds of featureless bodies, except this time they had gapping mouths with sharp teeth. They leapt towards us as one and the Lady Warrior breathed fire around us, creating a burning ring that they dared not cross.

As we fought against the bodies with the insatiable hunger for our flesh, the man who was not a man created more crushing shapes to fall on us from above. The Lady Warrior and I took turns switching between who was fighting what. I created caverns to swallow the bodies one moment and blasted air upwards to save our lives.

At the same time, I sent whispers of my own power towards the thing on the man who was not a man's back, trying to figure out how it worked. A series of electrical currents travelled along lines that were feeding some kind of power source that I'd never seen before. And that source was creating the lift that was keeping him afloat. If I could severe the connection or maybe scramble the signals, he's come down and be open for a ground assault once more.

I'd have to get in close, though. Work like this needed precision.

So this time, when I sent one of those shapes back towards him, I flew up and latched on, leaving the Lady Warrior to fend for herself. The shape disappeared, just as they always did, but the man who was not a man didn't expect me to be behind it. Propelled by my own momentum, I crashed into him. Hanging on for dear life as he served uncontrollably in the air, I slammed a hand onto the device and did everything I could to mess with the currents inside.

The thing sputtered, coughing out smoke that was thick and black. The man who wasn't a man screamed in rage and finally pushed me off as he plummeted to the ground. The Lady Warrior fought her way through the last of the bodies and slid underneath on her knees to catch me.

"You alright?" She asked, holding me as tightly as she could.

"I'm fine," I whispered back. She pressed here lips against my jaw.

A shiver ran down my spine, but I ignored it. I had to finish this now. I got up, grabbing my spear and pointing it towards the downed man who wasn't a man.

"You will answer for your crimes," I stood over him, eyes hard and determined.

The man who wasn't a man laughed, though it was forced and filled with coughed up blood, "Maybe one day. But...not today."

He threw the remains of the thing on his back at me and it felt wrong - wrong enough for me to know that he'd just handed me a trap. I dropped the thing at my feet just as the man who wasn't a man disappeared in a whirl of black smoke. I spun on the spot, all wide-eyed and terrified and the only thing I could see was Atem. I flung my hand out, blasting her backwards as I ran as fast as I could away from this strange device.

It exploded, an unnatural fire burning behind me. I tried to out run it, but it was too quick. The blast wave caught up with me and sent me flying forwards. Something - several somethings - pierced the skin of my back. I could feel the flames inside my lungs, inside my stomach. My eyes felt like they were about to pop out of my skull.

And then it was over, just as suddenly it began. I lay on the ground, unable to move at all. The ground beneath me was covered in red. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see. I couldn't hear a single thing over the ringing in my ears.

Something rolled me over. Hands cupped my face and forced my eyes open. Atem hunched over me, frantically pumping Torngak into my body in an attempt to heal the damage. But I knew. Somehow, I knew.

"Don't...bother..." I coughed around what was left of my throat. I knew I was dying. My heart would pump the blood out of my body long before she could heal the damage.

"No. No, no, no, don't say that! I'm not losing you! I can't lose you!" Atem screamed as tears ran down her face. She must have known it too.

I would have laughed, but I only managed to cough up some blood. It would figure that, after everything I'd been through, everything I'd learned, she'd be the one to undo me.

Saving her. It would be the thing that killed me. It was such a Bakura thing to do. Maybe he wasn't as dead as I thought he was. Thief King was, after all, part Tupit and part him.

I remembered that Tupit had loved Atem too. I was so stupid. I'd never stood a chance.

"Don't you dare! Don't you date die on me! Bakura! Bakura!" Atem cried.

I smiled, knowing I only had a few moments left, "Never believed...in an afterlife...but..." I paused in my speech to catch all that was left of my breath, "...if there is...I'll see him...all of them...again..."

She stared at me like I was the only thing in the world and maybe to her I was. Why hadn't I seen it all before? Maybe I just wasn't looking. I should have been looking.

"I'll...say hello...for you..." I whispered as the edges of my vision began to darken. I slipped the carving I'd made into her hands, "Don't…forget…me…"

Atem kept screaming, kept yelling for me to just hold on for a few more moments, that I was going to be okay. I was smart, though. A genius, she'd once told me. I knew what this was. It was the end for me.

The last thing I saw, seeing through those eyes of mine, was her. And I knew in a moment that, of all the deaths I could have received, this was one of the better ones.

* * *

><p>As it turned out, there was an afterlife. And if that wasn't a kick to the teeth, I didn't know what was.<p>

It didn't look much different then the world in which I lived. In fact, it looked almost exactly like the place I'd died in. I sat up sharply, head spinning with questions, and I looking instinctively to my right. My eyes widened.

"A-Atem? Lady Warrior?"

She was there, hunched over something, and crying. I got up and moved around. The bottom of my stomach seemed to drop when I saw what she was holding. It was me.

It was an odd thing, seeing myself from the outside. I almost didn't recognize myself. My only clue to the identity of the body was the small patch of unburned white hair atop its head. Its face was blackened and bubbly, the skin charred beyond recognition. There was something protruding through its chest - a piece of the strange earth-like material that that device had been made of. There was a massive red stain on the clothing around the hole it made.

The Lady Warrior was whispering something that I couldn't hear, her face tucked into the crook of the body's neck. I knelt and reach forwards for her, but my hand slipped through.

**"You cannot touch her,"** a voice came from behind me. ** "She can't see you. Normally, she'd be able to, but we've made it so that she can't."**

I turned around and felt a shock run through my nerves. The owner of the voice looked like me as well, though slightly different at the same time. He was thinner, his face sharper then mine. His clothing was strange as well. The leather skins he wore were too thin for this weather and colored as bone white as his hair. Like my hair.

"W-who are you?" I readied my power in case of an attack. The man blinked, though not in surprise or interest. He simply blinked with no other meaning behind the act.

**"Do you not recognize our voice?"** He asked, **"We have spoken before, Thief King Bakura."**

I frowned but then remembered a strange voice that had invaded my dreams and shown me the last lion being hunted and explained to me just who Atem was. I almost took a step back, but didn't because I didn't want to step through the Lady Warrior as she grieved over my dead body.

"That was you? Why do you look like me then? Just what are you?"

He sighed, **"Yes that was us. We do not look like you. You look like us. And we are...an ancestor, you might say."**

My hands felt cold. No. This was something I would not accept, "That's impossible. My ancestors are dead. They don't exist anymore."

**"And yet, here you are, talking and existing even after you died,"** the man raised an eyebrow. I had nothing to say to that.

"What do you want?" I growled.

**"To help you to understand. You are the first of so many to come. You need to know just how important you are,"** the man explained. He looked off to the side and nodded at something I had yet to see. I felt cold breath on the back of my neck and a icy paw touched my shoulder.

A sky lizard made completely out of ice stared back at me. It looked at me with its eyes and I could have sworn that I've seen them before.

"Climb on," the sky lizard whispered. "One last adventure, alright?"

The man turned into a black shadow and from his back sprouting massive wings. Together we flew upwards and into the sky, I stared back at the Lady Warrior until I could no longer see her. The man looked back at me with large glowing eyes amongst the darkness of his new form, **"Don't worry. You'll come back to her soon."**

The sky lizard took me out over the ocean. The vastness of the water awed me into silence. There's a single spot on the horizon that seems out of place. As they get closer, the man said, **"It's a ship. It carries people and cargo - in this case, Orichalcos stones."**

"Why? Where is it going?" I asked.

**"To the other side of the world to spread them. But this...this will be the last shipment. The Horseman is not he run because of what you did today. The north is safe. You won,"** the man floated above the ship as the sky lizard slowly descended so that I could climb off and step onto the wooden floor. There were red haired men here too.

"Who are these people?"

**"Vikings."**

I didn't understand the implications behind that word, but continued to ask my questions, "Do they come from the other side of the world?"

**"Yes."**

"Why did they come to my side?"

**"Originally? To explore,"** he answered softly, almost fondly. **"It has been a long time since their people have seen this side of the world. A very long time."**

"But these people...they're giving stones to the people on their side. The infection is spreading! I've got to-"

**"No. You will not. You've gone your part. You've made your impact. The stone's progression into Europe and Africa will slow to a near halt," **the man set down on the deck beside me. He transformed back into the burning shadow. **"It is time for you to rest, our son."**

"Please! Don't do this! I could do so much more! I'm smart! I'm powerful! I could help her. I could-"

The man sighed and it felt as if the entire world was rocked, **"Snowdust Dragon, please take him back to the Immortal Mortal so that he can say his goodbyes. And Thief King Bakura…"** the man turned back his back and stared at the sky, **"let it be known that while we are sending you to rest, you will be expected to wake. Don't tell any of the others your suspicions about there being one that came before you, especially not the boy. You can continue your work through him, though."**

His wings spread out once more and the man shot up towards the sky, disappearing into the slowly setting sun. The sky lizard – Snowdust Dragon – placed me on his back and soon we were flying over the ocean again, the line of land within my sight.

The moment Snowdust Dragon touched the earth, I slid from his back and ran over to where Atem stood on the shoreline. Slowly, breath hitching with tears that still fell, she lower my former body into the ocean. As she watched it sink beneath the waves, she whispered, "Go. You can be with him now."

I tried to reach for her, one final time. But just as before, my hands slipped through her. We were unable to touch.

"Thief King," Snowdust Dragon whispered behind me. "Bakura, she'll be fine. I know it. And she will always remember you. I swear it."

I turned back to him, suddenly knowing where I'd seen his eyes before.

"It's you, isn't it? But how…? How did you manage it?" I breathed, amazed. Behind me, Atem picked up my spear and tossed it in the air.

"That's life for you," Snowdust Dragon smiled an achingly familiar smile. "Always full of surprised. And unlike some people, I didn't try to figure everything out. Sometimes its better not to know and simply observe the wonder."

I laughed, "Maybe. But not for me."

He held out a paw, "Come. It's time."

I grasped it and it was just as comforting as it had been in the years previous, "Promise me. Promise me that I'll see you again."

"I'll always be with you, Thief King Bakura. All you have to do is ask," he swore. And then all I knew was darkness.

* * *

><p>Why?<p>

I often wondered that question. Why was the sky blue? Why was the air cold? Why did the lights appear at night? There were so many things to know, so many answers to discover. I doubted that I'd ever find them all, but at the very least, I'd know a few.

But it was moments like these where I wondered 'Why me?'

I stood with my fellow selves inside the body of Ryou Bakura and called a storm down from above. Our power merged together as we spoke and acted as one. And there I was, hundreds of years into my own future, fighting for a cause I died for.

Why me? What was it about those that were named Bakura that made us so important?

Was it our strength? Our abilities to use our powers surpassed almost all that came before us. Was it our will? We were all so utterly stubborn, refusing to back down. Or was it something else?

A memory flashed in my mind of the Leader, carrying the Lady Warrior in his arms. He gaze, his very _being_, focused on her with a fondness that I could only hope to possess. And I knew my answer.

Why me? Because of her. And that was all that I needed to know.

"_When a wise man dies. The heaven's lament."  
>- Inuit Proverb<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys!<strong>

**I'd like to thank Nekura Ryu for reviewing for the last chapter. Continue to be awesome, my friend!**

**And so ends the tale of Thief King Bakura, the young Inuit boy with a mind full of thoughts and knowledge and questions in need of answers. He was so young, so full of potential, when he was snatched from the world by the cold hands of death. But while his life may have been short, it was not without purpose. Thief King single handedly halted the Orichalcos's expansion into Europe via the Viking Atlantis trade route. He saved a lot of lives, though he will never be remembered for his accomplishments.**

**Yes, the Horseman (aka the man who wasn't a man) had a jet pack. I'm aware that that's a little odd for a story that's taking place in the 1000s. But let's just say I have my reasons and leave it at that. We also got to see a little sneak peak as to some of the things that will happen in the Third Year at the end. I know it wasn't much, but I can't wait to write it. I've had this scene planned out for a while now and its going to be really cool.**

**Next up to bat is Bakura Touzoku, the healer and the warrior, the man and the legend. I'm going to be doing some reading on Japanese culture and some human biology in the mean time. I'm also writing a Thief King character profile essay-thing at will be posted in Odd Happenings. It breaks the forth wall and gives an explanation as to when and where Thief King's story took place as well as looking into Inuit culture and analyzing his character to find out what makes him tick.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient **


	7. Bakura Touzoku: First Phase

**The Spirits: Resurrection**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo and 4Kids Entertainment. The following historical account is ninety percent fact and ten percent unavoidable estimation.

**Warning:** Sexual situations (OC x OC, Bakura Touzoku x OC), nudity, and prostitution.

_To Stephanie  
>To Britney and Carissa<br>And to all of those who reached out  
>In a time of need.<br>Thank you  
>For teaching me that distance,<br>However cruel for its ability to  
>Separate,<br>Is nothing but lines on a map  
>When it comes to those who care.<br>Thank you for being so brave,  
>To hold the candle in the darkness<br>For me to see that,  
>Yes,<br>There is a light  
>And that I should stand in its glow<br>More often_

* * *

><p><strong>Bakura Touzoku: First Phase<strong>

"_A man in love mistakes a pimple for a dimple."  
>- Japanese Proverb<em>

In my life, there are three parts: 'the time before', 'the time during,' and 'the time after.'

The time before was bright, soft and warm and, most of all, content. I would smile, feel joy when I father praised my swordsmanship. I would watch my sisters run through the village and play in the river.

I lived in a small village on the side of a river. In the distance, I could see the proud peaks of the mountains against the horizon. During the spring season, the sakura trees would bloom and the wind would carry their pink petals to the river. I'd watch them float gracefully and think about the wonders of the world.

I was always a strange child, that I knew, but I didn't mind it much. I took the odd colour of my hair as a sign of the purity of my spirit, a secret blessing by the kami. When I prayed at the village shrine, I always thanked them for my life and family, the strength of my heritage. I never asked why they had given me my white hair or the odd abilities that came with it. It was not my place to question.

And they were truly odd. I could make objects fly around the room on a whim, send multi-coloured firefly lights flittering across the waters. But most of all, there was the thing I could do for the sick, the broken, and the blind.

I could heal. As my father taught me to slice skin with steal, I sought to sew it shut with but a touch. Consulting in the secret with the village healers, I learned the secrets of the human body. In the dark, I studied medicine and hoped that my family never found out. If my father were to discover what I was doing, he'd cut off my ear. I'd seen him do it before to a trainee who'd refused to learn his footwork.

Life had been simpler then, more filled with wonder. I had been so innocent, so untouched by the darkness. So ignorant of the ways of the world. So uncaring of the future.

So utterly stupid.

The time before because the time during when the man came. And then everything changed. I met a woman.

I was eighteen years old.

* * *

><p>The man looked like the local shrine's shinshoku, but there was something to his clothes that distinguished him as being something much more. He wandered into the village one morning with a smile on his face and a bowl in his pocket. I watched him from a far before slipping back into my father's house for practice.<p>

I did not see much of him for three days, but it was clear that the shinshoku was staying in at the shrine. The local people whispered about how he was looking at the children, as if testing them for something.

"Something about having a gift," said one of the farmer's wives as I passed her by on my morning walk. She continued her washing in the river, "He's looking in their eyes for something special."

"For the kami's blessing? Hope he doesn't look at Bakura-sama's son. Cursed that boy is," an older woman snickered beside her.

"Shhh! Kaa-san, not here – look!" The first woman nodded in my direction, so subtly that, if I had not been looking for it, I never would have seen it.

"It's true though. What with Bakura-kun was his hair – it's unnatural. A yokai," the old woman sneered unseeing. My eyes narrowed, but I kept moving. I would remain unaffected and their taunts and jeers would roll off of me like water on a smooth stone.

When I returned home, the shinshoku was waiting. His silk jōe was coloured a soft yellow and it was tucked under his knees where he sat in the ima. His gaze turned from my father and sisters to me as I removed my shoes and entered.

"My son, Bakura Touzoku," my father introduced me to the man. I bowed low with my back straight and my hands at my sides. The shinshoku titled his head in return and I sat. My father spared me a glance of contempt before continuing to address the holy man. "You spoke of your orders, Tachibana-sama?"

"Yes, yes, orders," Tachibana-sama looked distracted, tearing his gaze off of me before readdressing my father. "The great Saio has instructed this one to search the lands in the hopes of finding certain young ones – certain special children. She wishes for them to be brought to the Grand Shrine and taught to use their gifts."

My father's jaw clenched, but he said nothing. The shinshoku continued on, "This one was wondering if you would allow for your children to be tested."

"My family have been samurai since the beginning of the Nara period," my father spoke calmly, though I could see that he was seething. "We have served the Emperor for generations and will for generations to come. The Bakura clan are proud warriors, not priests."

"Your children would not be priests unless that was what they wished to become," the corners of Tachibana-sama's eyes crinkled as he spoke his cryptic words. "That is, if they have the gift at all."

I glanced at my sisters, sitting nervously behind my father. Pretty Ren and simple Eriko, I called them. Ren-chan, who loved poetry and sweets, and Eriko-chan, the darling girl who could stitch and sing. They would make good wives for whomever my father would decide to marry them to. They were honourable and could manage a household while their husbands were away. They had within them the same proud blood that ran in my veins – the blood of the Bakura clan. Because for all their beauty, they would be true okugatasama and would defend their households if the need ever arose.

They were not destined to become mikos, just as I was not destined to become a shinshoku. I was a samurai, trained since birth to wield a blade so sharp and so well crafted, it could severe limb from torso. So as Tachibana-sama moved from his seat on the floor and padded towards me, I stared forwards and met his eyes. He would not dishonor my family or me by sending me to the Grand Shrine.

Tachibana-sama's lips curled slightly with amusement as he looked at me. He gently placed his two fingers on my forehead and whispered under his breath. And I felt it, a spark that seemed to travel from his body through mine, and then back into him. I flinched and his smile became larger.

"Did you feel that, child?" He asked.

I didn't answer him, composing myself as to not upset my father.

Tachibana-sama did the same thing to my sisters, but (much to my humiliation) they did not jump in their seats as I did. My father hissed, "Well?"

"Your son. He has the gift. He felt this one's power and –"

"No," my father's hands clenched in his clothes. "You cannot have him."

"Bakura-san, please, listen. He will not become a shinshoku. He is not to be trained for priesthood," Tachibana-sama tried to reason with him, but the man would not hear him.

"He is my only son. My heir. You cannot have him."

"Bakura-san, your son will not be taken from you – not permanently. The Saio only wants him to be trained. It will take five years at the most, but no more. Then he will be returned to you. I swear it, before the kami. Your heir your son will remain."

"Trained in what, exactly? He is proficient with his numbers and his writing. He can handle a katana. He has been educated by the best. What more does he have to learn?" My father frowned.

"Of his gift," Tachibana-sama smiled. "Surely you have noticed that Bakura-kun is…different. And this one does not simply mean his hair, though never has this one ever seen such a colour on a man before in all his travels."

He edged forwards once more, looking me in the eye. This time, I couldn't hold his gaze. I was far too humiliated. This was not supposed to be my life. This was not supposed to be who I was. I would not bring dishonor to my clan. I would not be the one to bring down our family's legacy after so many years, so many generations.

My father said nothing, but Tachibana-sama continued to stare at me. It took me a moment to realize that he wanted to speak to _me_, not him.

I looked to my father for permission. I gazed upon him: his hair long and tied into a topknot, his beard trimmed and exact. He had always been precise. Everything had always had its proper place and it was to stray from where he had put it. Sometimes, I wondered if that was why mother was dead.

He raised an eyebrow and I took that as indication to speak, "I don't know what you speak of, Tachibana-sama."

"And yet, this one thinks you do," his smile, ever present, was unnerving. Perhaps he sensed this, as he stopped and looked upon me with kind eyes. "This one has spoken with the leper. He has seen his arms. He knows what you have done."

Eriko-chan gasped, but quickly covered it up by opening her fan and shielding the bottom half of her face with it. Ren-chan looked equally scandalized, but did not make a noise.

My father's brow creased with frustration, "The leper? The one that lives on the edge of the village?"

"The very same," Tachibana-sama said. "And yet, his arms are not that of a leper, but of an ordinary man. The disease has left that part of him and he says that he has you to thank for it."

"Impossible. The leper has been there since I was a boy. He could not have been cured. There is no cure for the disease," my father growled.

"And yet his arms are as smooth as a new born babe," the shinshoku sighed. He looked at me, "How did you do it, child? Tell us. There is nothing to fear."

I refused to fidget under his gaze, refused to let him see any more weakness. I could feel my father's eyes on me, demanding that I explain away Tachibana-sama's words. But I couldn't. They were the truth.

"He had…_wrongness_ in him. So I burned what I could away," I said. The shinshoku's eyes widened.

"How long did it take you to do?"

"A few days. But I researched for weeks ahead of time before I dared perform the treatment."

He gasped, "Incredible. Absolutely incredible. And what forethought. Most that this one has seen simply jump in head first, but you…you have talent, child. You have promise."

"I cannot go with you. I am a samurai, just as my father and his father before him. I have a responsibility to my clan," I told him stubbornly.

"This one has spoken with the healer woman as well. There is no more that she can teach you," Tachibana-sama smiled softly. "This one can offer you more knowledge. Are you so sure that you want to through it away so quickly?"

What I wanted was beside the point. I had a duty. I had an obligation. But I could see the promise of a _calling_ in the eyes of the shinshoku – his impossibly yellow eyes.

I accepted.

* * *

><p>Before I left, my father needed insurance that I would return. So I became engaged.<p>

The girl was pretty enough. Her name was Mastumoto Rica and she was the second daughter of the head of one of the neighbouring samurai clans. Her long black hair was intricately styled and her kimono was an icy shade of blue. Mastumoto-chan was young for one entering a wedding arrangement (only eleven years old), but I knew that when I eventually married her, she would be of a much more suitable age.

She is almost eerily quiet, but she had an aura of elegance to her even at her young age. Her father assured me that she was fluent with her numbers and could manage my household when I was away performing my future duties to the emperor. She would be honourable and bare me several sons.

Right before she left, I pulled her off to the side and, blatantly advertising my intensions, kissed her softly. Mastumoto-chan trembled under my lips, her hand clenching mine where I held it. When I pulled back, she stared at me with wide eyes.

"Bakura-sama…" she whispered under her breath, so hushed that I could barely hear it.

"Touzoku," I corrected her. "If we are to be married, then we should be more familiar with one another." I smiled, "Might I call you…Rica-chan?"

She nodded, not looking me in the eye. But then she reached up suddenly, touching my mouth with the tips of her fingers. I blushed as she whipped away some of the make up that had transferred from her lips to mine when I kissed her.

"T-thank you," I smiled. She did not return it, only keeping her eyes on her feet.

As I swung into the saddle of the horse I would be taking to the Grand Shrine, I could see Rica-chan standing next to her father. I nodded in her direction, telling her silently that, when I returned, I would be a better man and a good husband to her. I said farewell to my sisters, my father.

In secret, the night before, I returned to the leper and burned his disease from the soles of his feet. For some reason, my promise to him (that, upon my return, I would cure him entirely) seemed more important then the others that I had made.

* * *

><p>While in the inner sanctuary of the Grand Shrine, learning to control the powers that I had been blessed with by the kami, I learned of <em>it<em>.

_It_ was something within me, something empty and wanting and consuming. _It_ lived in my very soul and I could never seem to be rid of _it_. But I could shove _it_ to the background, where _it's_ incessant needing seemed to be diminished. I could ignore _it_. The calling. The desire.

Instead of thinking about _it_, I threw myself into my research. The mikos who taught me to heal with my Gift let me experiment with new diseases, new ailments, that I had never had access to before. In return, they asked me to show them how I had cured the leper – apparently, doing something so intense was almost unheard of for someone of my skill level and age.

"Here," they said. "Try it this way. Your work will be more efficient then. You can use less of your power to cure more."

Sometimes I dreamed true dreams. Dreams of a past that wasn't mine, but the past of the world. I dreamt of a land to the west, where barbarian men with thick beards rode into battle on horses that foamed at the mouth, where women in odd clothing danced around a flame in a forest and chanted in words I did not understand. When I asked about these dreams, Tachibana-sensei told me that they were the kami letting us know the history of the world.

Once I dreamt of The Immortal. Some of my friends (friends, dear spirits, I had _friends_) told me of her: this strange figure that was wrapped in animal skins, who wore no shoes, who's hair seemed to be black and gold and red. She ran in snow filled lands, painted her face with the blood of her kills, and would live for all eternity. She was cursed by beings beyond the powers of men for a crime so heinous that no one remembered what it was.

It seemed absurd. No one could live forever. I had done research on the minds of the sick that came into the Grade Shrine for miraculous healings. Memories were imprinted on the electrical currents that ran through their brains, memories that could be written over if there was no space left. Like wiping ink off of a piece of paper.

If this Immortal woman truly did exist, then she probably did not remember her own name, let alone her past. Unless something had been done to her mind so that the _impossible_ could happen, then she would have shut down so long ago.

I tried to imagine living forever, once. I believed I'd simply get tired eventually. I was only a young man, in my early twenties, and already I'd picked up an ache in my right knee that refused to go away no matter how long I spent treating it. Eventually, I realized that there was actually nothing wrong with my leg – rather it was all in my mind. For some reason, whenever I became stressed, it would translate into my knee hurting.

The oddities of the human body would never cease to amaze me.

* * *

><p>It was during my third year that I met Maeda Sakura. She was a common girl, judging by her torn and dirty clothing. Her hair was knotted, her hands callused, and her feet bare.<p>

The shinshokus and mikos reminded us that, at the Grand Shrine, all were to be treated as equals – man and woman were as one. But one of my friends, a nobleman named Tatsuo-san, smirked.

"She's a whore," he told me. "Probably one of those onsen girls from the capital. Look at her – wonder how much I'd have to pay for a night with her? None of the mikos seem to be spreading their legs any time soon."

Word spread quickly of Maeda-san's arrival, but somehow it was kept from the teachers just why she was suddenly so popular. I'd once walked in on her and Tatsuo-san in bed. I flushed, muttering apologies and turned to leave when her voice stopped me.

"Going so soon, samurai-sama?" Maeda-san called mockingly, "What? Never seen a woman naked before?"

I hadn't, to be honest. Between my father's training and the distain brought on me by the oppressive Impulse, there hadn't been much time for courting the local village girls.

When I didn't say anything, she laughed and spoke again, "S'okay, samurai-sama. Turn around and watch. I don't mind. Won't charge you a damn thing. Consider it a gift."

I heard Tatsuo-san swearing, followed quickly by the sound of a palm smacking against skin. Maeda-san let out a little noise and I heard the squelch of wet flesh and – _oh_.

They're having sex behind me. Well, they'd been having sex before I'd walked in on them, but now they were _continuing _and I was still _there_ and, spirits, I couldn't breathe. I walk away on shaking legs and run towards the river. I jump in, not even bothering to remove my clothes, and refuse to leave before the frozen water has taken care of my erection.

Then the rumours began circulating. One of the woman who was in my battle training (a tall fisherman's daughter who showed me how to gut a man with a flick of a knife) whispered that Maeda-san was a kitsune. She swore that she'd seen the girl shift into that of a fox the night previous and scamper into forest beyond us. Tachibana-sama made an announcement later that same day, explaining the situation.

"Maeda-san has a gift amongst the gifted, the ability to change her form. She is not a yokai or a kitsune – she is as human as you or I," he'd said, before reminding us once again that we were all equal in the Grand Shrine.

It took me a week to get around to it. In reality though, I was building up the courage to approach her, as I was fearful that she'd take my proposition wrongly. I knelt outside the paper door of her rooms and asked for permission to enter.

The door was shoved aside rudely and she looked down on me from where she stood. Her yukata opened loosely around her chest, showing off her swells of her breasts.

"What'd ya' what, samurai-sama?" She asked jokingly, "Finally decided to try the kitsune whore, like the rest of your friends?"

"No," I told her. "I would like to ask you for a favour, Maeda-san. Would you mind if we spoke privately?"

I rose to my feet, gesturing to her room. Maeda-san snorted, making a sarcastic attempt at manners as she invited me in. I knelt in one corner while she sprawled out on the floor. Her position parted the bottom part of her yukata, giving me a view of her long legs. I blushed and looked away.

"Maeda-san, would you…please sit properly?" I stammered. She jeered at me.

"Say that again, and I might consider it!"

"Say what?"

"My name. No one's referred to me so…respectfully," she smirked. "Make me wonder just what is it you _want_, samurai-sama."

"Tachibana-sama says that we are all equal here at the Grand Shrine. I am to be respectful, Maeda-san," I told her.

"Oh? Is that true? Now tell me, samurai-sama: would you do the same if we were not here, but, say, in an onsen with my legs around your waist? Your cock deep in my cunt?"

I refused to let her words get to me, "I am honourable. You are a woman. You deserve respect."

"Well, this is a first: a samurai with honour. You must be from one of those noble clans the likes of me only hear about in tall tales," she threw her head back and laughed. "All those that visited me before only wanted to show me their swords – and not the metal one that you keep in your obi."

She sat up, curling her legs so that I was able to look at her again. Maeda-san stared intently at me, "What'd ya' what, then?"

"Your gift," I started to say but she cut me off with a scoff.

"Hah, so that's it. Want me to imitate the body of some girl you be pining for, 'cause you couldn't get her to spread her legs for you back home?" She looked annoyed, "Wouldn't be the first to ask."

"No! No, it's not like that. I swear," I held my hands up, trying to quell her anger. "I want to study it – your gift."

Maeda-san froze, "What?"

"I want to see how it works. What changes your body goes through when you shift forms. What your powers do. Everything. I want to learn about it, study it," I told her, leaning forwards with wide eyes. "What you can do, it's so beyond anything any of us are able to do. Please, I would like to learn, if you are will to teach me."

I bowed, much lower than was expected for someone of my class to do towards someone of hers. I didn't care, though. It didn't seem humiliating at all. It felt right.

I looked up to see her face, filled with such open confusion that I was taken aback. Maeda-san stood suddenly, backing away.

"What are you playing at?" She asked fearfully.

"I'm not playing at anything. My intentions are clear. I have not lied, Maeda-san," I stressed, fingers clenching slightly in the fabric of my clothes.

"Don't! Don't do that! You don't think I know what I am? I'm a whore. Men pay me money and I let them fuck me! I let them because I'm a freak, because my mother never wanted a yokai for a daughter. Because this is the only way I can live," she cried, her chest heaving. "Don't go trying to play to the little girl who wanted a life because she's dead, I tell you, _dead_ – "

"I don't think you're a freak," I said and it stopped her rant cold. Her hands shook as she pulled the opening of her yukata closed and covered the skin she'd once proudly bore.

"You don't…? You don't think…?"

"Maeda-san, what you can do…I think you're incredible," I admitted.

She laughed again, but this time it lacked her usual confidence. It was broken, innocent even.

Then, hesitantly, she extended a hand and her eyes glowed purple – completely glowed in a way I'd never seen before. The whites of her eyes disappeared and her hand caught fire with the power of her gift. It shifted, growing fur and claws. When the flames disappeared, the paw of a wild cat was in its place.

Immediately, I rose to my feet. My hands grabbed greedily at her's, questions spewing from my mouth. I asked about her thought process, how she knew what to change. I felt around her fingers, feeling the bones beneath her skin, watching as her claws retracted back into their pads when they weren't needed. I sent my own magic into her, analyzing and discovering the wonders of her body.

Then self-consciousness descended upon me and I stepped back, embarrassed, "I apologize, Maeda-san. That uncalled for." I bowed low out of respect.

"It's…it's fine," she breathed. "Please, please, don't bow to me. I'm not… I'm just a whore."

"You're not _just_ anything," I told her. Maeda-san smiled, honest and true, before shaking her changed hand. Purple fire leapt up again and it transformed back to human form. I felt her bones shifted beneath her skin and a dozen new questions filled my mind.

I spent much of the night there, asking her about her gift and receiving answers in return. Maeda-san transformed twice more: once into a bird and the second time into another girl. I learned so much about her gift that night – so much that I regretted not bringing a brush and paper to write it all down on. I memorized as much as I could, before a voice came from outside her door.

"Whore! Open up! I wanna buy a few hours," the man yelled.

Maeda-san's face became very still. She looked up at me, before her gaze went to the side, "…I need the money…"

I swallowed hard, took a breath, and then spoke, "I understand."

I stood again, hearing my knees crick as I moved. The man on the other side of the door shouted again, saying something obscene that I didn't want to think about.

"Before you go, what's your name?" She asked.

I blinked, forgetting that I'd never introduced myself, "Bakura Touzoku."

Maeda-san's jaw dropped as she recognized the name, "Y-y-you're the son of…Tanjiro the Dragon? Of clan Bakura?"

"I'm his heir, yes," I answered with a nod.

She didn't say anything to that, just continued to stare. The man outside yelled one final time.

"I should probably go. I wish to do this again," I told her. Her head jerked in what I took to be agreement. I bowed low in farewell and turned to the door. I didn't recognize the man – no, _boy_ – outside, but I leaned down and growled.

"Treat her with all the respect you'd give to your wife or I'll make it so you walk on your knees for the rest of your days."

I swept past him, heading back to my rooms to write down all that I'd learned tonight.

* * *

><p>Months past and the seasons changed. Maeda-san lay on the grass beside me as I leafed through my notes under the shade of a tree. Since our initial conversation, she had spent her days by my side, often sitting next to me when we took our meals. I found that she had a liking for spicy foods and, when I knew that she'd be late, saved some for her when she eventually joined me.<p>

I found these times to be the most relaxing. I'd read silently, but would listen to whatever Maeda-san would be saying. She liked to talk, sometimes going on for hours without stop. Most of the time, I heard her speak of her lessons and what spells she found most interesting. She could create the most beautiful mirages with a swirl of her small hands. Sometimes, I would watch her practice in between the pages.

Surprisingly enough, I learned a lot from her about the human body. She knew more about how muscles worked, how the female reproductive system functioned, then most of the mikos and healers of the Grand Shrine did combined. One night, in a hushed voice, Maeda-san told me about childbirth and just what happened during the process. She admitted that she had had a daughter.

"Sickness got her in her second year," Maeda-san told me in the darkness and I pretended I couldn't see her tears. "I wish you could have met her. Hisa-chan would have liked you."

"Who was the father?" I asked.

"Don't know. The faces of men tend to blend together after a while," she answered. "You learn not to remember them – their faces, their names. Makes it hurt less when they leave."

Today, though, she was annoyed. And when this happened, she talked of the men who demanded their time in her bed. Maeda-san would describe their inadequacies in vivid detail – something that, at the beginning of our friendship would make me blush terribly, but now I was used to it. I only shifted uncomfortably when the conversation turned to this.

Then suddenly, she rolled over and propped herself up on her elbows, staring at me intently. I raised an eyebrow in question.

"Ya' know, I've never heard you speak about the women you've been with, Touzoku. Why's that?" She asked with the tilt of her head.

I'd long since given up making her try to address me with the proper honourfics or levels of formality. So I didn't twitch at how she had asked me. I twitched at _what_ she'd asked.

"I'm engaged to marry," I said. This was common knowledge between us as well. She knew about Rica-chan and often teased me about how she'd be a terrible lover because her lack of experience ("Young, a virgin, _and_ a noble? Oh my, she'll be _awful._").

"That's not an answer," she laughed, before giving me a look again. I ground my teeth together and shrugged.

Apparently, that was enough for Maeda-san to guess my level of personal knowledge on the subject.

"No," she gasped, disbelieving. "Really? _You_? You never…?"

I huffed, "…There was no woman that held my interest."

"Huh," she snorted. "You into boys then?"

That made me choke, "_What_?!"

"I meant –"

"I know what you meant! No! I'm not! There was just…no one, alright," my jaw clenched.

Maeda-san chuckled, "Well! It's a rare day when I can get you to loose your composure."

"Congratulations," I sighed, returning my gaze to my notes. "I was wondering, when you change, if I could observe –"

She plucked the pages from my grasp, laying them down on the other side of her body and out of my reach. Then her palm rested warmly on my chest and Maeda-san moved in close. I stared at her confused.

"You ever been _curious_?" She smiled.

"About what?"

"You know," her grin widened and her eyes locked against mine. "Are you telling me that, with your mind all wrapped up in what the body can do, you've never thought about it?"

My mouth was suddenly very dry. I licked my lips and my breath caught in my chest, "I don't know…what you're…talking about…"

Her hand traveled upwards, grazing over my neck, until it cupped my cheek. Maeda-san's thumb brushed against the skin there and a sigh shook it's way out of my mouth.

"I think you do," she moved closer and there was a look in her eyes that surprised me. "Tell me, Touzoku, if this was the last day on earth, the end of the world, tell me honestly: would you not be curious?"

I felt her pull ever so gently, small hands against my face. My eyes fluttered, closing as I realized that, yes, I would be, but only if –

A bell chimed across the grounds of the Grand Shrine and I moved back so suddenly that I crashed to the ground. Maeda-san, unprepared for my sudden movement, fell on top of me. A laughing sound came from across the field. Tatsuo-san stood there, an ugly look on his face.

"About time you went to the whore!" He cackled, "We were all getting worried that you were a eunuch, always being around her and not fucking her!"

Something terrible and burning welled up in me in that moment and I jumped to my feet, rushing him with all of my strength. I didn't reach for my katana (I didn't have it, having left it in my room), instead letting my power flow into my hand –

_Blood will boil at the same temperature as water…so will skin…_

- I slapped my hand against the side of his face and, in an instant, sent signals to his brain to superheat his entire body. Tatsuo's eyes widened before he opened his mouth and let loose a terrible scream. He fell to his knees, clutching the side of his face. I saw his skin was now a dark red, almost purple, as it bubbled and melted. My eyes widened as I stared down at my hands, unaware of what I had done.

"You bastard!" I recognized the voice of one of Tatsuo's friends. Using the training that had been instilled in me since I was old enough to walk, I sunk into a battle stance with my hands open in front of me; ready to inflict pain at a moment's notice.

I moved in circles, getting behind the man as he raced forwards waving his staff. I placed my hands at the back of his spine, moving with each of his confused turns in large steps, remembering how my father taught me to get behind my opponents and uses their blindness to my advantage. But I went a step further, lancing my power up into his nerves. The man let out a small choking sound, so tiny in comparison to the screams Tatsuo was still emitting, as his legs stopped working and he fell to the ground.

"Stop!" I whipped my head around to see the third and final friend of Tatsuo, a woman – no, not just a woman. An onna-bugeisha – a woman of the upper class who had been trained in the same fashion as I as. My eyes narrowed, but did nothing because she held a curve blade of her naginata to Maeda-san's throat.

"Heal them," she growled.

"I can't," I told her in return.

"Heal them. Everyone knows what you can do. Do it now."

"I used my powers on them. Everyone knows that wounds inflicted using the powers of healing cannot be healed by anything other than time," I flexed my hands anxiously.

"Heal them _now_," the onna-bugeisha roared, "or I cut your whore's throat!"

I bristled with anger, but Maeda-san's self-preservation kicked in. She shoved her elbow into the woman's stomach causing her to double over. Within seconds, Maeda-san had cast an illusion over her, sending her into some mystery world that I could not see, but was very real to her.

"Good job," I complemented her quick reactions. She merely shrugged.

"You live my life and you gain some pretty good skills," then her face turned to chalk as she realized our situation. "Shit, how do we explain this one to Tachibana?"

"I have an idea," I moved over to where Tatsuo was still screaming. My touch this time drove him into unconsciousness, but I wasn't done. I sent my powers into the depth of his soul and forced his body to react according to my will. I made his brain send the right signals, imitated his wanting and desire for his own flame to bend to his will and Tatsuo's own green fire shot from his hands and started to burn in the grass.

Then I went about modifying the memories of the three fallen soldiers. I broke down their memories, replacing them with the ones I wanted them to think. According to my modified story, Tatsuo and his friends had been sparing and, in their idiocy, had gravely injured themselves. They'd been driven into unconsciousness before they could get help.

I grabbed Maeda-san's hand, running as fast as we could into the classroom where the mikos would be teaching us how to create and shift the world to our liking before anyone noticed our absence.

* * *

><p>That night Maeda-san came into my room. This too, was a relatively common experience – so much so that I kept a spare futon in the corner for her to sleep on. Most nights that she did this, she took refuge here so that she didn't have to entertain any of the men of the Grand Shrine who would seek her services. She told me once that, sometimes, she just needed a break and "some morons don't take 'no' for an answer."<p>

I didn't care that she slipped in without announcing her presence first. I was used to that, too. But was made me stop was that she didn't close the door, simply letting the moonlit into my room. I sat up in my bed, blinking the sleep out of my eyes.

"Why did you do it?" She whispered.

I didn't pretend to be ignorant of what she meant, "Because they made it seem like what you do is wrong."

Maeda-san frown, "Isn't it?"

"What you do with your body is your business. I'm not one to judge," I shrugged and then swallowed. I looked at her, pinning her eyes with my own, "They should treat you better then they do."

"I'm just a whore."

"You're not _just_ anything," I repeated again and her mouth twitched into a gentle smile.

"When you say that, it almost makes me believe it's true," and with at, her hands moved to the knot holding her yukata together. She shrugged out of it and it pooled at her feet. Underneath, she wore nothing but her own skin.

My breath caught and my fingers dug into the floor in shock.

She moved towards me silently and I made no move to stop her. Before I knew it, she was straddling my hips and I was hard beneath her.

Reality caught up to me when she reached for the folds of my clothes. I caught her wrists before she could continue, "Why are you doing this?"

"It's not…this isn't a job. It's not an obligation. You're not a client," she breathed. "I want it to mean something again. I want this. I want you, no one else."

I was lost for words. She took my silence as unwillingness.

"I understand if…if you think I'm unclean o-or impure…or ugly…"

I stopped her there, "I don't think you're any of those things."

"This isn't even my body," she let out a choking laughed. "I've shifted so much that I've forgotten what I look like."

"Maeda…" I paused, looked at her and then restarted my sentence. "I think you're beautiful, Sakura. I think you're incredible."

And then I kissed her, weaving my fingers into her hair and wishing that I could stay like this forever. My clothes left my body and in a mix of sweat and tears of joy, I became one with Maeda Sakura and prayed that I'd never be separated from her ever again.

I thought of The Immortal and begged for the curse of eternity.

* * *

><p>"Your father would kill me if he knew about us. He'd kill you too."<p>

I shrugged as I pulled the blanket over us, "What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

That got a laugh out of her. I smiled, feeling the sound of Sakura's joy wash over me. It sounded like spring.

"You know, I've never actually seen one," she said out of the blue. I made a confused sound and she continued, "My namesake. A sakura tree. They don't have any here."

"There's one back home. When I return next year, you could come with me," I offered.

Sakura flicked my arm, "I thought I just told you that your father would kill us both if he knew. Besides, you've got a wife-to-be waiting for you. You should be with her."

"I could work something out," I reasoned.

"Really?" She smirked, and it wasn't sad but playful. It made me feel warm inside, "Like what, samurai-sama?"

"I don't know. Something."

"Quite the planner you are," she laughed.

"Quite," I wrapped my arms around her body, feeling her skin against mine and reveling in it. "I want to take you away from this place. You deserve better."

"I've heard that line before. I've heard that promise before. It never happens."

"I don't doubt you have heard it," I told her as I buried my nose in her dark hair, inhaling her scent. "But unlike those men, I actually mean it."

Sakura looked up at me, "I know you do."

And when she kissed me, I knew that I meant it too.

"_He who treads the path of love walks a thousand meters as if it were only one."  
>- Japanese Proverb<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Hello all!<strong>

**I'd like to thank all those who reviewed for all of Thief King's phases: Aqua girl 007, Mandalore159, ilovemanicures, RiverTear980, Nekura Rya, and zukofan2005. And you for supporting Thief King in all of his adventures, from beginning to end.**

**But the story of the beings known as Bakura continue on and now we look upon the story of the early Heian period samurai, Bakura Touzoku. To give you guys a bit of background knowledge, this story starts about nineteen years before the Hogen Rebellion, which was a short civil war that Touzoku participated in that resulted over a dispute over Imperial succession.**

**When we start off with Touzoku, I always wanted to show him at his best. The two time periods he describes in the first section, the 'time before' and the 'time during', are the two best periods in his life. He's got a woman who loves him, a future that's looking bright, and a chance at happiness. But some things are going to happen in the next chapter that will bring him into the 'time after', where we will literally watch this wonderful man's life deteriorate into darkness. Touzoku, had he been born in our time period, would be on some _serious_ anti-depressent medication and be in need of a whole lot of therapy just to keep himself functional - let alone _sane_.**

**To be honest, a lot of what he's going to be going through are going to be exaggerated symptoms of what I was feeling last year. While our situations are not exactly the same and he is going to go deeper into _that place_ then I ever did, I spent most of 2012 in a state of clinical depression. It's probably why I was able to write as much as I did: this story was (and still is, in a lot of ways) my escape from reality. There was one point where I just hit rock bottom and I called out for help on this site because I was just feeling so _alone._ The response I got back was incredible.  
><strong>

**People from across the global reached back and told me that it was going to be okay, that they understood, and that they were there for me. It touched me so deeply that I still can't quiet describe just how amazing it was. So that's why I'm dedicating Touzoku's story to all of you guys out there because this is what you helped save me from.**

**Before I go, I'm just going to put this out there: if there is anyone out there that just needs to talk about something, _anything_, that is bothering them, I'm here. I don't care how little it is. I don't care how big it is. If it is bothering you, if it is hurting you in any way, I am here for you to talk to. Any day of the week. Any time of day. For however long you want. For however long you need. I'm not just text at the end of a chapter, I'm a real person and I care. Reach out to me and I'll reach back to you.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**

* * *

><p><strong>Translations:<strong>

Sakura: Cherry blossoms

Shinshoku: Shinto priest

Yokai: Demon

Saio: Also called "Itsuki no Miko"; an unmarried female relative of the Japanese emperor, sent to serve at the Grand Shrine to serve as High Priestess

Jōe: Clothing worn by Shinto priests

Miko: Shinto priestess

Ima: Living space in a traditional Japanese house

Okugatasama: Literally, one who remains in the home; a married samurai woman.

Onna-bugeisha: a type of female warrior belonging to the Japanese upper class. Occasionally mistaken in historical documents as female samurai


	8. Bakura Touzoku: Second Phase

**The Spirits: Resurrection**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo and 4Kids Entertainment. The following historical account is ninety percent fact and ten percent unavoidable estimation.

**Warning:** Mentions of sexual situations (Bakura Touzoku x OC, Bakura Touzoku x another OC), gore, character death, dubious conscent, depression, and suicidial tendencies.

* * *

><p><strong>Bakura Touzoku: Second Phase<strong>

"_Laughter cannot bring back what anger has driven away."  
>- Japanese proverb<em>

Life continued on. My final year in the Great Shrine was spent, for the most part, in the arms of Maeda Sakura. We talked of my village, the tree that was her namesake, and the daughter she had once called her own. I sometimes liked to imagine, rather selfishly, that _I_ had been the father. To have a small child to call my own, to raise with Sakura together in my home.

But I understood that, logically, my children would come from Rica-chan, the girl that I'd been engaged to shortly before I left to come here. They had to. While it was not uncommon for a samurai of noble birth to take a mistress or concubine on the side of his marriage, they were as strickly selected as his own wife. Sakura was as common as they came. When she returned with me, our relationship would have to remain a secret.

Sometimes I thought back to how much I had changed since coming to the Grand Shrine. All those years ago, I never would have considered being with any woman besides the one picked out to become my wife. I remembered Rica-chan, so small and slight, wearing her blue kimono that wrapped around her body tightly. She was nothing like Sakura, who was bold and full of life. We sat under our tree, hand in hand, and I watched the sun make shadows in the hollows of her collar bones.

But I liked to consider it sometimes, in a world where I could have all that I wanted. Sakura would encourage Rica-chan to grow, to be as vivacious as she was and show her how to simply _live_. In return, my wife would teach her to read, to write, and give her all the opertunities that she'd never been able to receive before. My household would ring with the sound of laughter of both women and children. I could be happy. I could have it all.

This world, however imaginary, was what I hoped for. I believed in it, that somehow I'd be able to make it all work. Every night that Sakura did not join me in my room, I spoke softly to myself. I would speak of that life and how I would convince my father to allow it. I had to make it work. I _needed_ to.

* * *

><p>It was late in the winter months when an Imperial messanger arrived at the Grand Shrine. One of the mikos greeted him, offering food and water. Sakura and I watched as the man was escorted inside. I frowned.<p>

"Something is wrong," I told her. "He is under great duress."

"How can you tell?" She asked.

"He's exhausted. If the bags under his eyes and the shaking in his limbs are anything to go by, he probably hasn't slept since he left the capital. There's a skin rash on his arm and is currently suffering from a migraine. He refused the food offered to him, so his appitite has been severely reduced," I paused for breath. "He's also most likely suffering from –"

"Alright, alright, I get it," Sakura chuckled at me, before looking up inquisitively. "You can really tell all that from getting a look?"

"Of course," I blinked.

She let out a low whistle, "You are wasted as a samurai. All that research you do, your mind is so cluttered with thoughts that its amazing you can still remember how to swing a sword." I smiled slightly at that. Sakura tugged at my sleeve, "Come on! Let's go find out what that was all about!"

"But…we have lessons," I reminded her.

"It's Healer's class. You know more than the mikos that teach it. Let's go, Touzoku!"

"You go. I've been requested to do a demonstration. They'll notice my absence," I told her with a smile. Sakura waved and then disappeared under the cover of an illusion.

I didn't see her again until meal time. She slid in beside me at the table, her thigh brushing warmly against mine in a way that reminded me of how we'd woken up together this morning. I swallowed down the memories of her skin, her hands in my hair, and her pleasured sighs, and passed her the onigiri I'd set aside and saved for her.

"Thanks," she said, biting into the rice ball. She looked covertly around the room and then leaned in close, "You'll never guess what I heard."

"I doubt I could guess, but seeing as you are going to tell me anyways…" I left the sentence hanging as I eyed the zosui.

"The messanger came with official orders from the Emperor himself," her eyes lit up. My head snapped towards her.

"Truly? You didn't miss hear?"

"Unless there's another Emperor running around, then I definitely heard right," Sakura's smile was overbright. "Something's happening, Touzoku. Something big."

As it turned out, she was correct. After we'd all eaten our fill, Tachibana-sama made his announcement. There was a disturbance one of the local villages, though what was causing it was currently unknown. From the reports the Emperor had received, it sounded like an oni of some kind. Since the problem seemed to be divine in some aspect, members of our secret school were to be dispatched to care for the problem.

The village was a day's ride from the Grand Shrine. Tatsuo-san had agrued lowly and unbecomingly about how Sakura had decided to ride with me and not him, but his common sense kept him from voicing those opinions to my face. While he did not remember our fight or how his face had been burned, something subconscious in his mind told him that I was not to be faced openly. Sakura wrapped her arms around me as I took the reigns of my horse with one hand. With the other, our fingers entertwined and she smiled into my back.

That night, she slipped into my bedroll without a sound. I murmured softly the names of the constellations and the stories that went with them. The night air was cool and the earth firm beneath us as we silently became one beneath the blankets.

The morning sun greeted us, as did the end of our travel. Tachibana-sama was at our head, followed by Tatsuo-san and his onna-bugeisha friend who I had discovered was named Akatsuka Nori. Beside Sakura and I rode the fisherman's daughter Ono Kana. And behind us were a brother and sister pair, Sato Mashiro and Sachiko. At the very back was one of the mikos who taught us in our Healing classes, and older woman known only to us as Nami-sensei.

Rice fields surrounded the village, which was nothing more than a small conglomeration of wooden huts. Compared to my home, it looked like a hovel, but Sakura snorted and said that I was too much of a noble.

"Not everyone lives in a palace, Touzoku," she snorted, resting her chin on my shoulder. Tatsuo-san looked back at the two of us suspiciously, but turned back before he said anything.

Tachibana-sama lead us inside their borders. We gave our horses to a group of local boys that were so far untouched by the sickness that plagued them. They would care for them until we left or they took ill.

The village leader was an elderly man, the only hair he possessed was in his grey beard. He looked sick himself, but had not yet progressed to the point where he was unable to function. We followed him to where the diseased were being held – a large, quickly erected barn on the outside of the village.

"We don't know how it all happened," he whispered. "Whether it was a curse from the gods or a demon of some sort. Those who catch it usually die within a few days, though my wife passed within hours of showing her symptoms. Can you help? Please, we'll do anything!"

"Let us see the sick," Tachibana-sama said.

The old man refused to enter the barn, merely showing us the entrance. Once inside, those of our group lifted their sleeves to their noses in an attempt to block out the smell.

"Gods, that's disgusting," Ono-san sputtered. "Smells worse than rotten fish."

I swallowed down a wave of vomit, knowing it would only add to the horrid stench. But my mind started to turn, categorizing each offending scent and the symptoms that I saw in the people. There was clear liquid in the beds and on the floors next to those lying in there. Those that appeared to have been there longer had skin that had taken on a bluish-grey tone. Their eyes were sunken and their breathing uneven.

Slowly, my nose became used to the smell and I was able to walk in. I headed towards the nearest patient, a young boy no older than Rica-chan when I'd first met her.

"Hello," I said softly. "My name is Bakura Touzoku. What is yours?"

"J-Jiro," he said in a horse voice.

"Jiro-kun, my friends and I are here to help you get better. Can you tell me about the days before you got sick?" I asked.

The little boy told me about what seemed to be a normal series of events in a village of this side. He and his family had been tending to the rice fields. He'd also played with some of the other boys in one of the houses neighbouring his. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing that would indicate the presence of an oni.

The others that I'd interviewed told similar stories: long days filled with work in the fields with family members and friends and then nightly meals afterwards. Those in our group reported similar things being said. I frowned, trying to put together just what was happening.

"There's been no one new in the village?" Nami-sensei asked the leader.

"No. You're the first outsiders we've seen in years," he answered.

That night, we discussed our findings amongst ourselves over dinner (we'd brought our own food so as to not burden the villagers with our presense). Nami-sensei brought up that she'd tested the blood of a few patients with her gift and nothing had come up.

"I just don't understand," the miko sighed. "What could be wrong with them?"

Jiro-kun passed that night. I found him in the morning, still and cold. I watched his mother take away his tiny body to prepare it for a funeral.

I hardened my mind. No more distractions. I had a job to do.

I concentrated on the clear liquid that was splattered throughout the barn. According to the patients, it was their own vomit or, in some cases, feces. I schooled my emotions, not wanting to make a face at the idea of the sick lying in their own waste as they waited to die. Something was terribly wrong, for it to be coming out completely colourless. I used the diagnostic spell again, checking their blood for impurities and coming up with nothing.

It was on the second night that I was hit with inspiration. Leaping out of bed and upsetting Sakura's sleep, I dashed towards the barn shouting back some sort of explanation. I seeped my gift into the body of the nearest patient, but did something that the mikos had never taught us to do or had ever thought to be possible: I looked beyond the blood.

There was so much more to the human body, after all. There were muscles and bones and tendons that helped us to move. There were lungs that took in breath, stomachs to digest food. There were nerves that transmitted lightning signals across the body, relaying instructions from the massively complicated structure of the brain. Somewhere, inside of all that wonder, would be the answer.

I was right. Deep within one of the intestines of the man I was looking inside of, something very small and very dark squirmed. Sakura, eyes dropping with sleep, appeared behind me.

"Touzoku? What the hell is wrong with you? It's the middle of the night."

"I found it!" I grinned, "I know where the disease is! We might be able to cure it now!"

Her eyes widened and then a smile slid onto her face, "I knew it. You, of all people, would be able to find it. Come on, let's wake the others."

* * *

><p>It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. While it had definitely helped that I'd located the disease, then came the process of slowly buring it from the bodies of the sick. Whatever it was, it left the people of the village severely dehydrated. The Sato siblings were put in charge of bringing water from the river into the barn so that those that we'd cured could drink.<p>

And yet, that didn't stop new people from falling ill. In the four days since we'd begun to make progress with our healing, more and more patients came in. And then the worse news came, some of those that we'd cure had fallen ill once more.

"How?" I asked Nami-sensei, "I'm sure of it, they were well when they left. How has it returned to them?"

"Well, if it is in their small intestines, logic would dictate that the disease was in something they digested," she said in return.

"That would explain why we're not getting sick then. We aren't eating anything from the village," and then I frowned. "But our supplies are running low. We need to figure this out fast or we're going to be next on the list."

That night, Sato Mashiro started showing signs of the mystery illness. I questioned him personally.

"What have you eaten that wasn't brought with us?" I implored.

He frowned and then made a retching sound. I saw that his vomit had turned the same translucent colour as the rest of them.

"Haven't eaten anything, sempi. Drank at the river, though," he answered. And there it was: the source. It was in the water.

"By the gods, nē-chan. She drank, too," Sato-san gasped when I told him my thoughts. I shouted for Akatsuka-san to find his sister and quickly. A few minutes later, the warrior woman returned with her lips in a grim line.

"I'm sorry," she said and I knew that the worst had happened. Sato-san's face crumbled, but didn't cry. There was no water in him left to waste. He died a few hours later, having refused treatment by anyone.

By then, we'd been able to warn the villagers about the source. They'd have to move away, leaving their crops where they stood because it was likely that the disease had entered the rice grains as well. We cured who we could save and then sent them to a village across the mountain range.

We travelled with them, making sure that the place where they were going would be free of the disease that lived in their river. On the third night, I was awoken by the sound of someone vomiting. I scrambled to my feet, noticing that my bedroll was empty. A chill ran down my spine and _it_ bubbled towards the surface, but I shoved _it_ down.

But it was her. Sakura's shifting powers seemed to be going haywire, making her grow fur one moment and then scales the next. Bird winds sprouted from her shoulder blades as her mouth opened to reveal finger-length fangs. Clear vomit flowed past her lips before the fangs receeded and were replaced with thousands of rows of molars.

Tatsuo stood off to the side, looking at her in horror. His own skin had taken on the bluish-grey hue of the patients from the barn. But other than my acknowledgement that he'd contracted the disease, I ignored him and rushed towards Sakura.

"Touzoku…" she groaned as I knelt beside her. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was from the river. He gave…I swear, I thought…Gods, this is awful."

"I need you to calm down. You keep changing. I can't pinpoint your organs to help you," I tried to remain calm, but my hands were shaking. I rest one on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, but had to pull away as it turned inside out and I touched bone instead of flesh.

She breathed in slowly through the nose of an oxen, her fingers in the shape of tiger paws beneath her. Sakura shuddered and winced and the mass transformation came to a hault. My gift flowed through her, only to discover something terrible. Someone had already attempted to heal her. And they had _stopped_.

Healing was a complicated art. One only had a single chance at it. When a healer stopped using their gift on someone, it was impossible to continue on at a later time. The first time this was ever mentioned to me, it was from Tachibana-sama himself. And he'd also spoken of a consequence for those that would continue to try afterwards.

However, in my desperation to save her, I forgot it. I shoved my gift into Maeda Sakura, searching for the blackness that infected the body and hoped to burn it out of her. But as my gift touched it, it expanded within her, growing faster and faster until I was pushed away.

"Don't!" She gasped, "Please, Touzoku. You're only making it worse."

"Sakura, _please_! I have to try –"

"You know you can't! Damn it! Damn it all!" She turned, spitting at Tatsuo, "Did you know?! Did you know that the water you gave me was infected, shit head!"

Tatsuo didn't answer. He looked away, his grey face twisting in disgust.

"You bastard," Sakura growled, low and beastal. "You fucking bastard! What is _wrong _with you?!"

"You deserve it," he threw back at her.

"You've killed me, you fucker!"

"Whores like you don't deserve to live!" Tatsuo pointed wildly at her before turning his accusatory finger to me, "You charge me an arm and a leg, but you let him fuck you for free! I saw you two going at it on the road! How's that for fair?"

"You poisoned me because of that?! Because of my cunt? You fucker, I'll kill you," Sakura lept forwards, but I held her back. "Let me go, Touzoku! I'll rip his balls off!"

Suddenly, she sagged as another wave of vomit came up. At the same time, I saw the same clear liquid running down her thighs and the air took on the same smell as the barn. Sakura began to shift madly again as she fell to the ground.

In her sted, I advanced on Tatsuo, "You figured it out, did you not? How the infection began?"

"What makes you say that?" He sputtered.

"Because I saw you give that drink to her two nights ago," I hissed as anger built up in my body.

A smirk passed over his face, "Someone shit in the river. Then those idiots drank from it. They drank shit, Bakura. And so did your fucking whore! There was shit in her when you fucked her. That's why your never supposed to put your mouth on a whore – you don't know what you'll pick up!"

I roared, kicking him in the stomach. He doubled over, coughing up the clear liquid. I grabbed him by the throught and shoved him up against a tree. _It_ reared its ugly head, consuming me and taking control.

"You gonna kill me, Bakura? Isn't that against your code?" Tatsuo laughed.

"No," I whispered, low and very dangerous. "No, I'm not going to kill you, Tatsuo Haro. I'm going to make you beg for death."

I pulled a spare piece of cloth from inside of my clothes and stuffed it into his mouth to gag him. Then, holding his neck so that he couldn't escape, I pressed my palm into his stomach. Using the knowledge that I'd acquired about surgeries, I sliced open his skin with my bare hand and reached into his innards.

Tatsuo's screams were muffled by the cloth as I got to work. I twisted his organs, reorganizing them to my fancy. I cut his small intestine, closing off the section to his bladder, and rerouting it back into his stomach. Then I increased the potency of the acid inside so that it would eventually burn through the lining of his organs. I flicked my hand, turning it just slightly, and touched his liver. I filled the inside with pus and set it on the fast track to spread throughout Tatsuo's body.

Finally, I withdraw my hand, sewing up his skin perfectly as I left. There would not even be a scar left to identify what I'd done. I wondered what would get him first – the infection in his liver, the acid that would chew through his organs, or the shit in his stomach.

I realized then that I was smiling. I was staring into Tatsuo Haro's terrified eyes and grinning like a demon. I enjoyed it. I still did. I always would. Because, damn it, that was satisfying work.

My hand still wet with his blood and guts, I slowly removed the cloth from his mouth. Still smiling, I set him down on the ground and, very slowly, explain exactly what I'd done to him. I whispered the details of what would befall him in his ear, almost intimately, and shivered with excitement as he shuddered in fear. Finally, I pulled away and forced him to look at me.

"You're insane," he breathed.

"You hurt Sakura," I responded dryly, like it explained everything. And it did.

I left Tatsuo there and turned back to Sakura. She sat there, looking nothing like who she was normally, in a puddle of clear liquid. I recognized her, saw the beauty in her that made me care for her as I did, but she stared at me like she'd never seen me before.

I reached for her, but she jerked back suddenly. I hesitated, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" She repeated, disbelieving, "What's wrong? Gods, Touzoku. What did you do to him?"

"Only what he deserved," I responded.

"And he deserved that?"

"Yes," I answered simply.

"And who decides what he deserved? You?" She gasped.

I blinked, "Yes. Me. Just like I know what you deserve, Sakura. You deserve a life so much more than this one. I can give it to you. Just let me cure you. I can help."

But she wouldn't let me. Sakura shook her head and got up, stumbling away from me. I tilted my head in confusion, not understand why she was running from me. Didn't she see? I could help. I _had_ to help. She was supposed to come home with me after all of this, to see the sakura trees and meet Rica-chan and be happy.

What had I done wrong?

* * *

><p>Tatsuo didn't last the night. It was the acid that got him in the end. It bubbled through his stomach and into his guts, straight down passed his bladder until it burned into the ground. It was an excruciatingly painful process. I knew. In the span of a few short minutes after his death, I felt his hours of suffering and knew that in the end, he tasted his melting organs in his mouth.<p>

_It_ receeded a little while afterwards, letting me see my actions more clearly. I understood why Sakura had reacted the way she had. What I'd done was cruel and, most of all, wrong. But I couldn't regret it. It was worth it.

Sakura had gone to Tachibana-sama and Nami-sensei afterwards, telling them about how Tatsuo had infected her and himself by accident shortly afterwards. She'd left out what I'd done to him, though for what reason I didn't know. But it didn't matter. She was dying.

Since I was the best of what was left of our little group, I was given the responsibility of caring for her. I tried to make things as they were before all of this happened, but Sakura refused to talk to me. As she grew weaker and weaker, her control over her form other slipped up and she would transform half-way into something that was passing by. One moment, she had bird feathers instead of hair. The next, she had the face of one of the villagers that walked with us.

She was one of the stronger ones. Sakura lasted five days. By that time, we'd gotten the villagers settled in and were on our way home.

I was sitting on my own, staring at the night sky and remembering the days that we'd had together beneath our tree at the Grand Shrine. I remembered the first night that she'd come to me, lain with me and slept beside me at night. I remembered Sakura's kiss and the warmth of her skin and the music of the laughter. I looked up at the stars and saw the constelationgs, but took no joy in knowing the legends that went with them.

Akatsuka-san found me, "Maeda's asking for you."

I nodded and stood, heading towards where I knew that she would by lying. Sakura had withered, now bone thin with hollow eyes and pale skin. I sat beside her, cupping her cheek and smiling slightly, sadly.

"It's going to be okay," I told her. "I think…I think I might have found a way around it, Sakura. I could cure you, if you'll let me try. I promise, you'll never see that side of me again. I swear it. I was wrong to do that to Tatsuo, but I had to – don't you see?"

She razed a single, thin finger to my lips, letting out a breath that might have been a laugh. My hands closed around hers as I quieted and listened to what she had to say.

"Touzoku?" Sakura rasped.

"I'm here," I responsed. "I'm here. Everything's going to be okay."

"You kept your promise," she whispered. "You said…you always said you'd take me to see them…"

I frowned, fear welling in the pit of my stomach. Her smile was heartbreaking when she breathed, "The sakura blossoms. They're beautiful."

There were no sakura blossoms. There were only dry leaves, floating in the wind. They were brown and lifeless, nothing like how Sakura was supposed to be. They were nothing like what what Sakura was supposed to see.

But I swallowed hard, knowing what was coming and being completely unprepared for it. My voice cracked as I forced out, "They are, aren't they?"

It was a lie. It was all a lie.

"I'm glad…that I got to see them… I'm so glad, Touzoku. I'm glad I met you," she grinned with pale blue-grey skin. "You made things bright again."

"Don't…" I chokes, feeling so helpless in the face of death. I couldn't do anything, _anything_, but sit there and lie for the comfort of a dying woman. "Gods, _please_. Don't die. Sakura, you can't die."

"Touzoku, I miss Hisa-chan," she stared up at the stars. "I want to…I want to see her again, but… could you help me? I want you to help me to go see her."

"Sakura, you can't –"

"Please. Just this. Just this one thing… I want to see my baby again."

The tears that she couldn't cry fell from my eyes as I gathered her up in my arms, holding her tight to my body. I could feel each shuddering breath leave her lips as I pressed a kiss to her forehead, to her mouth. I forced myself to look into her eyes and I whispered.

"It's okay. You can go to her. And I'll…" I paused, searching for the right words and something with me _broke_ as darkness weighed down on my shoulders.

"I'll be here when you come back."

Sakura let out a chuckle and clear liquid dribbled down the side of her mouth. She lifted a hand to my face as smiled, "I'll tell her…otō-san says 'hello'."

And with that, her eyes slide shut. Maeda Sakura takes one final breath, her chest rising and then falling, before becoming completely still.

A sound ripped its way out of me, half human and terrified and angry and tired. I screamed and prayed to the kami for some sort of miracle, nonsense words spilling from my lips. I kissed her in hopes of feeling her smile against my mouth, see her laugh once more. I rocked back and forth on the brink of madness and yelled at the world to just be _fair for once_!

Ono-san came to me shortly after, pulling me from Sakura's body as the shadows began to steel it away into their Realm. The fishman's daughter held me as I cried, rough hands rubbing soothing circles into my back in an attempt to calm me. But nothing that she could do would change the fact that Sakura was dead. Nothing could ever bring her back to me.

When I woke up the next morning, I didn't want to. I didn't want to live in a world without her in it.

* * *

><p>Returning home to my village was the hardest. It was the ultimate proof that the future that I'd imagined was never going to happen. That life, the one that had seemed so real and so close, was nothing but a daydream. It was empty. It was worthless.<p>

But I had to keep going. Despite everything that had happened to me, despite everything that I had lost, I was still needed by my family. My father needed an heir. My village needed a leader. And my sisters…

They were gone. Ren-chan and Eriko-chan had been married off during the years I was away. They now lived in the homes of their respective husbands, creating alliances between the families. I'd probably never see them again.

Rica-chan was brought to me a week after my return. The marriage ceremony that bound us together for life was a simple thing, though I doubt that I'd remember much even if there had been flare to it. I went through the motions, put on a smile when it was needed – but I didn't feel anything.

The night is eventless. I simply fell into bed, face down in the blankets of the futon I slept in, and refused to move. Rica-chan sat motionless off to the side, confused and scared because this wasn't how a wedding night was supposed to go. I couldn't touch her, though not out of the lost of Sakura. I just wasn't interested.

It took me a month to get around to consummating our marriage. I suppose I must have taken some pleasure out of it, but I couldn't really much of the 'during' bit. Afterwards, though, I remembered Rica sniffling beside me and turning her back. I reached out, tracing her spine with my finger tips. She froze and squeaked as I lazily pressed my mouth against the hard bones there under soft skin.

"Rica," I whispered. "Please. Just say something. Talk to me."

My wife opened her mouth, but barely a sound came out. She shook and shivered, so I pulled the blanket over the two out side to keep out the chill. We slept beside each other like strangers.

Several months later, she gave birth to our first son. I documented her entire pregnancy, my gift spreading into her womb at night to analyze the changes in the fetus' development. It was a fascinating process, one that I'd like to repeat for a comparative study.

I wasn't allowed in the birthing room – no men were for it was considered to be sacred. So I waited outside, wondering if perhaps on of my sisters would allow me to study their efforts throughout labour. The female body was a work of art, being ablet to accomplish all of this. A man's would break in the first few minutes.

I was called in an hour after Rica's screams quieted down. I stepped in to see her flushed and tired, but smiling softly at the small bundle of cloth in her arms. A small fist appeared from the folds and she met it with a soft laugh as small fingers curled around her own.

Somewhere inside of the darkness that surrounded me, a tiny spark began to glow. She looked up and held out _their son_ for him to hold.

I knelt next to her, staring at the child in wonder. Somehow, that had come from me – from the pair of us. Rica and I had made this little boy. Incredible. A man, a woman, a night together. Nine months. And then _this_. It seemed impossible, but then again, was that not life?

Bakura Tsutomu screamed the moment I took him into my arms. He writhed and squirmed until his mother held him again, cooing sweetly in an attempt to calm him down. I left the room without warning, disappearing down to the docks.

I sat at the end of the wooden pier, sheding my waragi and dipping my feet in the water. I remembered the poisonous liquid that killed Maeda Sakura, that led me to destroy Tatsou Haro from the inside out. My toes curled in the cold water as _it_ clammed its hands on me and dragged me into its depths.

I couldn't touch my son without him screaming. My sisters were gone, living with their husbands. My father was away on business for the Emperor. I was alone and lost and _bound by the weight on my shoulders_. It would not let up. It would not go away. It felt like death and pain and misery.

Rica was all I had left. Days mixed together as I buried myself in her and my research. I studied Tsutomu, studied her body as she recovered from her pregnancy. I wrote it all down, documented each passing moment. Then, I went out into the village and took note of the people. I watched how their bones held them up, how their muscles contracted and expanded to let them walk, how their skin flexed over their bodies and kept their organs inside. I looked at the sick and the dying, learning all that I could from them as to the ways that I could starve off death.

There was one man, though. I remember how he begged me to end his life, to let the sickness take him. He was old, feeble and slight. He spoke of an abusive wife and a greedy son and pleaded for me to make sure he'd never return. And as I granted him clemency, I felt the breath leave his body and shuddered as I felt his death. It felt like purity and I reveled in it.

When I opened my eyes and saw that I was still alive, I felt the darkness return with full force and bit back a wail of frustration.

My second son, Bakura Yoshitaka, was born three years later. I could barely remember the months leading up to it, as my work had taken control of my life. I craved the purity of death and yet worked to overcome it in others. This sudden new life was surprising, but stirred very little hope in me. Tsutomu had yet speak to me, yet I'd heard him talk endlessly with Rica. Yoshitaka would undoubtably be the same.

I did not hold him. Instead, the night of his birth, I wrote a death poem and stared at my ritual tanto until morning came.

And then I lost Rica. She did not die, though that would probably have been better if she had. At least then I would be able to live without the knowledge I gained. At least then I would not have been so alone.

I'd lain beside her that night, just as I always had. I reached forwards, stroking her back and kissing the hollow of her neck. She'd never denied me what little momentary pleasure I took from this act and she did not now. My hands slid her sleeping clothes from her body and I hovered over her, entering her body slowly.

I kissed her mouth and stroked her smooth skin. I'd learned her form in our years as husband and wife and knew what she took pleasure in. But this night, something was different. It wasn't her. It was me. I _noticed_.

I saw the trembling in her lips, the shaking in her legs. I saw how her hands gripped the sheets beneath us. It wasn't in pleasure. It was in fear. I saw terror in her eyes and knew that the Impulse had taken her from me as well. Rica was scared of me. And it frightened me so much that I stopped mid thrust and pulled out of her.

She made a confused noise as I rolled off of her and it only made it worse. I gathered my clothing, hastily putting it on and standing on unsteady knees. Rica sat up and looked at me. I saw her there, naked with full hips and breasts, her legs still still spread open from where I'd lain in between them. She whispered my name in question.

"I…" and the words caught in my throat. "I won't…not again, unless you want to. I won't touch you."

Rica blinked and then her shoulder relaxed. The tension left her body and I realized with horror that she was _relieved_.

I ran.

I ran as fast as my legs would take me, into the trees that surrounded my village until I found something that I could drown myself in. I stumbled upon a camp of bandits miles outside the borders of my village. I was angry with myself for not noticing, angry with Rica for rejecting me, angry with my sons for fearing me. I was angry at Sakura for abandoning me in this wasteland of despare because _I could have fixed her_ but she wouldn't let me.

I fell upon them with brutal efficiency, shocking nerves and rupturing stomachs and snapping bones with my hands. I killed them all, one by one, taking not but a single movement to despach each one. Blood stained my clothes and white hair the same colour of my eyes and I waited for the flashes of death that would befall me.

I fell to the ground as those handfuls of _endings_ befell me. I did not shout or scream, instead smiling because this was it. This was what I wanted. This was what I needed. I felt my neck snap and my brain seize and tasted blood in my mouth and it was glorious.

And then I woke to reality and I was laying on the dirt surrounded by corpses that were not mine. And I thought, gods and spirits above, not this again.

I took one of the bandit's swords with me as rememberance as I turned back to the village. This night would be burned into my mind for the rest of my life and I would always remember the sanctuary I found in the darkness of death that wasn't mine. I could crave it always, the final ending. And like this sword, I would carry that compulsion forever.

"_First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes the man."  
>- Japanese proverb<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Hello all!<strong>

**Poor Touzoku. He's spiralling, falling deeper and deeper into his depression - and it only gets worse once he gets called out to war. He goes have a small god complex, but it dies after losing Sakura. However, he remembers the time when he was happier as when he had that complex as part of her personality, so when he makes attempts at happiness, he attempts to imitate it. Combined with the fact that he is suicidal and has the ability to relive death whenever he kills due to his status as an Other, it is needless to say, but he is messed in the head.**

**Atem should probably be showing up in the next chapter. She's going to be fun to write because she's rather outgoing and loud at this time in her life. She does Touzoku some good, but also some bad as well. You'll see what I mean later.**

**Any guesses as to what the illness that plagued the village and eventually killed Sakura is? Here's a hint: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a Russian compuser, was thought to have died of it after ingesting contaminated water a few days previous.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**

* * *

><p><strong>Translations: <strong>

Zosui: Also called ojiya, asoup containing rice stewed in stock, often with egg, meat, seafood, mushrooms, or vegetables, and flavoured with miso or soy.

Oni: Invisible spirits or gods which cause disasters, disease, and other unpleasant things.

Nē-chan: Honourific used when a younger sibling is addressing his or her own older sister. Also used: Nē-san.

Otō-san: Father


End file.
